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 (Orange), 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 1920 Decatur Staleys (now Chicago Bears) uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Chicago Bears uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Chicago Bears products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Tino Paolini 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

The Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals (originally the Chicago Cardinals) are the two charter members of the National Football League still in existence. Their 1,000-game history began in 1920 in Decatur, Illinois, when the Staley Starch Company decided to sponsor a football team. On September 17, 1920, the Decatur Staleys, with George Halas as their player/coach/manager, joined the newly formed American Professional Football Association (APFA) for a franchise fee of $100. In 1922 the APFA became the National Football League.This 1920 blue jersey with tan colored vertical striping, is a Decatur Staleys jersey, the franchise's first year and as mentioned above, the first year of the American Professional Football Association. But this jersey had functionality to it the vertical striping were actually strips of felt sewn onto the uniform to help the ball carrier securing the ball.The 1920 Staleys finished with a record of 5-1-2, good for second place behind Akron.  Interestingly, the Staleys played only 2 games at home.The following year, 1921, Staley Starch Company decided to give up sports as a promotion and gave the team to Halas and his partner Dutch Sternaman for a nominal fee. In fact, they gave Halas permission to move the team to Chicago and about the only thing Halas had to do in return was agree to keep the Staley name for a year.Thus in 1921 Halas and Sternaman moved the team to Chicago and played their games at Wrigley Field. And in 1921 the Staleys won the APFA championship with a record of 9-1-1 contrary to 1920, the Staleys played all 11 games at home.  It's interesting to note that from the beginning of the APFA in 1920 (and the NFL in 1922) right up to 1931, the league champion was the team with the best winning record overall - it was actually more complicated than this in some years, but well leave that story for another time - there were no playoff games; the regular season was the only season.After the 1921 championship season, Halas agreement to keep the Staley name expired, and seeing as though Chicago's baseball team was named the Cubs, Halas thought it appropriate that the football team be named the Bears, thus the Bear name began with the 1922 season.