Museum Collections

Among the earliest statuettes of baseball players, these figures were cast by New York City founder Nicholas Müller and designed by his brother, Karl Müller, a designer for the Union Porcelain Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The figures are made from zinc alloy and patinated to resemble bronze. A contemporary newspaper account described the pair of figures as "so thoroughly good that we shall be surprised if they do not speedily become very popular . . . They are true to nature to a degree that modern sculpture, even what is called the best of it, very rarely reaches, but they satisfy the claims of art as well."