1887 French Impressionist Pong
Berndt J. G. Mann
apparently dated 1887 done in French Impressionist style depicting two
players playing table tennis outdoors at a beach. One of the players
is either a man or a woman with short hair dressed in white bathing
bloomers following halfway through a right handed forehand drive, open
stance, knees somewhat bent, left heel raised, holding a circular
racket in either a tennis or (holy Fred Flintstone) possibly a
shakehand grip. The player's opponent is sort of a greenish blur.
The table looks rather like a modern one, a low normal looking net
across it.
Could it be (mon Dieu!) that the French invented pong and the open
stance forehand drive is 115 years old? Holy escargot, Batman!
Tooloose Latrick
Berndt J. G. Mann
wrote:
In an enlarged version of this picture, which I have saved as
wallpaper, one can see the ball just passing over the net at a medium
high trajectory, going crosscourt. The player's greenish blur
opponent is executing a crossover step, racket outstretched to counter
with a forehand of his/her own.
Lorenz Jacobsen
Berndt J. G. Mann <bjgm...@msn.com> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
3db66b3...@news.supernews.com...
Monsieur Mann, could you be so good as to give us the link to le said
ping-pong picture?
François Curiel
Président, Christie's Europe
Berndt J. G. Mann
Oui. It is
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1863716259
Vincent Van Gone
Arno Stienen
> In an enlarged version of this picture, which I have saved as
> wallpaper, one can see the ball just passing over the net at a medium
> high trajectory, going crosscourt. The player's greenish blur
> opponent is executing a crossover step, racket outstretched to counter
> with a forehand of his/her own.
Any indication on what type of speed glue they're using?
Arno.
Berndt J. G. Mann
If they're using battledores with sawed off handles, Arno, they might
be using either ground glass or emory powder to maximize the "screw"
(topspin or topspin/sidespin) or "cut" (underspin or
underspin/sidespin) with these drumhead-like vellum covered "banjo"
blades.
Arnold Parker, a turn of the century player who was himself a banjo
bat man, mentions these techniques to soup up a banjo bat. I think,
although I'm not sure, an unidentified player who wrote a brochure for
Spalding may have mentioned this as well, although that player,
possibly shilling for Spalding equipment, goes on to say that vellum
is passe and wood or polished wood very much the in thing now (circa
1902).
Berndt Mann
Jérôme Lambert
"Berndt J. G. Mann" <bjgm...@msn.com> a écrit dans le message news:
3db66022....@news.supernews.com...
Can you be sure that it is a real painting ?
Might be a hoax as well.
Charles
challenging the date, but they made no reply, i.e., no defense or
evidence supporting the date. Hmmmm. The clothing is the main clue -
this is DEFINITELY NOT clothing style from 1887 or earlier era.
Nothing about this painting suggests 1887, not even 1897.
.
Sometimes dates are not so clear on paintings (though I do not know if
there is a date on the painting itself), and can be misread. It could
be 1987 for that matter.
I am an expert on early table tennis history and equipment evolution,
and nothing in this painting fits. For the real deal see my museum
at:
http://tabletennismuseum.com
A steep price to pay for something so questionable. But it is an
attractive painting ... but not from 1887
The Curator
bjgm...@msn.com (Berndt J. G. Mann) wrote in message news:<3db66022....@news.supernews.com>...