This beautifully framed piece features an original piece of watercolor artwork glass-framed in an attractive two inch wide black resin frame with a double mat. The outer dimensions of the framed piece are approximately 17” wide x 24.5” high, although the exact size will vary according to the size of the original piece of art.

At the core of the framed piece is the actual piece of original artwork as painted by the artist on textured 100% rag, water-marked watercolor paper. In many cases the original artwork has handwritten notes in pencil from the artist (be sure to “See the actual artwork without the frame” elsewhere in this website). Simply put, this is beautiful, one-of-a-kind artwork.

The outer mat is a rich textured black acid-free mat with a decorative inset white v-groove, while the inner mat is a complimentary colored acid-free mat reflecting one of the team’s primary colors. The website image of this framed piece shows the mat color that we suggest (Red), but since each piece is custom framed, we are happy to use whatever color mat you wish (depending on availability) – our standard mat colors are:

Light Blue / Dark Blue / Brown / Maroon (close to brown) / White / Silver / Gold / Yellow (bright yellow) / Green (dark green) / Orange / Purple / Red (bright red, somewhat close to PMS 186)

Beneath the artwork is a silver plate with black text describing the original artwork. The text for this piece will read:

This original, one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of the 1947 San Francisco 49ers uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this San Francisco 49ers uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other San Francisco 49ers products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Nola McConnan for Maple Leaf Productions Ltd.

Beneath the silver plate is a 3” x 9” reproduction of a well known, best-selling print that celebrates the history of the team. The print beautifully illustrates the chronological evolution of the team’s uniform and shows you how the original art was used in the creation of this print. If you look closely, you will see that the print features the actual artwork being offered for sale. The 3” x 9” print looks like this:

The piece is framed with an extremely high quality framing glass. We have used this glass style for many years with excellent results. We package every piece very carefully in a double layer of bubble wrap and a rigid double-wall cardboard package to avoid breakage at any point during the shipping process, but if damage does occur, we will gladly repair, replace or refund. Please note that all of our products come with a 90 day 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Each framed piece also comes with a two page letter signed by Scott Sillcox describing the history behind the art. If there was an extra-special story about your piece of art, that story will be included in the letter. When you receive your framed piece, you should find the letter lightly attached to the front of the framed piece.

If you have any questions, at any time, about the actual artwork or about any of the artist’s handwritten notes on the artwork, I would love to tell you about them. Simply email me, Scott Sillcox, at scott@heritagesportsart.com and I will tell you everything I can about your original piece of art. The artists and I spent well over ten years of our lives creating these pieces of original artwork, and in many cases there are stories I can tell you about your actual piece of artwork that might add an extra element of interest in your one-of-a-kind purchase.

Please note that all reproduction rights for this original work are retained in perpetuity by the National Football League unless specifically stated otherwise in writing by the NFL. For further information, please contact Heritage Sports Art at questions@heritagesportsart.com .

History

Football takes flight in the Bay Area the 49ers join the All-America Football Conference in 1946. The AAFC was a rival league to the NFL, competing for fans and players. In its inaugural season the had 8 teams: Brooklyn Dodgers; Buffalo Bills; Chicago Rockets; Cleveland Browns; Los Angeles Dons; Miami Seahawks; New York Yankees; San Francisco 49ers. It gets a bit confusing because one might assume that at least 3 of these teams (Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and the 49ers) went on to join the NFL in 1950 when the AAFC and the NFL agreed to a truce, but in fact the deal was that the NFL would take in the AAFC's two best teams, the Browns and the 49ers, plus the lowly Baltimore Colts (who folded after one season in the NFL). The rest of the AAFC teams simply ceased operations.

The 49ers played their home games in Kezar Stadium. Anthony J. Morabito, the teams owner, named the team as such to reflect the city's ties to the 1849 California Gold Rush in the Sierra Nevada mountains east of San Francisco.

Under the leadership & tutelage of coach Lawrence T. Shaw, the 49ers AAFC 4-year record would be a very impressive 39-15-2 a sign of success to come to this franchise in the next 50 years. These first few years were synonymous with Strzykalski rushes, Beals receptions and Albert passes.For the record, the 1946 49ers went 9-5 but missed the playoffs (only 2 teams qualified the winner of the 4 team Eastern Division would play the winner of the 4 team West), 8-4-2 in 1947 and again no playoffs; 12-2 in 1948 but once again they finished behind the remarkable Cleveland Browns and thus out of the playoffs. In 1949 the AAFC was down to 7 teams in a single division, with the 1st place team meeting the 4th place finishers, and second played third. Predictably, the 49ers finished second behind the Browns, and after both won their preliminary playoff game, the Browns beat the 49ers 21-7 in the last AAFC Championship game. (Allow us a quick tribute to the Browns, who lost a total of only 4 games during their 4 year AAFC reign. From a 49er perspective, there's some consolation in that two of four defeats were at the hands of the 49ers.)

With respect to the helmets, almost all  helmets in this era lacked facial protection and would continue that way well into the 50's. The only significant difference between this 1947 uniform and the 1946 uniform was the switch from white to silver for the pants and helmets.

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Here is how I summarize the pant colour history of the San Francisco 49ers:
1946 - White
1947 - Gold
1948-1952 - Silver
1953-54 - White
1955-56 Silver some games, white others
1957-58 Gold
1959-1963 - Silver
1964-Present - Gold with modest exceptions when the team wore throwback uniforms or colour rush uniforms.