21. 1923 Yankee Stadium Terra Cotta Figural "Corner Stone"

For five decades, from the birth of Yankee Stadium until its mid-1970's renovations, this baseball treasure kept watch over the approximately fifty million fans passing beneath it on their way through the ball park's famed main gates. Visible in vintage pictures of the stadium, this remarkable object symbolizes the wonder and thrill of the Stadium in ways few other items could. Weighing apprximately seventy five pounds, this terra cotta piece exhibits an aged patina developed over its half century of prominence. The decorative design consists of two baseballs in the center of a scrolled pattern backed by a golden oval meant to convey a sense of glowing light. The stone was carefully removed from the Stadium in 1973 and remains handsomely intact, now complete with a custom base. A mate to this stone was once part of the famed Barry Halper Collection where it fit in a customized opening in that collector's home. Nine were used in the Stadium (as pictured in the photo below) but only three are known to exist. Once displayed at the American Folk Art Museum, NYC. Frieze piece: 19" x 16" x 3 1/2" Est: EOR