A journey of weeks gave touring sides plenty of autograph opportunities, as must have been the case with this sheet of headed paper from the RMS Orontes, signed by 16 of the Australian party of 1909, which featured in Phillips’ sale of cricketing memorabilia on July 3. It made a double-estimate £1300, and Phillips’ Dave Bellamy reckoned it was the clear signature of Victor Trumper that was the main attraction.
This 495-lot sale leaned much towards the printed souvenir. As well as the mixed-owner section, which provided the Orontes notepaper, the core of the auction comprised the 125-lot collection of Douglas Crampton, which majored on books, photographs and autographed material. Top lot of the day was, for The Champion County, a 1913 chromolithograph of EW Dillon, one of the rarest of the Vanity Fair prints which made £2400. The small clothing section of the auction proved to be the weakest part; despite featuring items like blazers that have hitherto proved collectable, most of this was left unsold.
Sale of cricketing memorabilia
Today’s national cricket teams jet around the world to their Test series by plane, but back in the early 20th century the cruise liner was the chosen mode of transport.
