This is a beautiful tennis advertising poster created by French artist Albert Dorfinant – better known as Dorfi (he shortened his name to avoid confusion with the names of his artistic Father and Brother). It was created for the French tennis ball company ‘Young’ sometime around the early 1930s.
These days, one would be extremely lucky to find or even see an actual box of Young tennis balls as they are extremely rare. I only know of two examples and I don’t even know by whom they are owned.
Young tennis box from 1935 that held six balls
1934 Young tennis box that held four balls
Young six ball box with contents
These two boxes are located in the VTB database here
The Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame located in Newport, Rhode Island has on display an original print of the ‘Balles de Tennis’ artwork. I’m told that unframed it is approximately 66″ in height and 50″ in width. I’m sure viewing this magnificent display would be a highlight of any visit to the museum. Below is a picture of the actual poster courtesy of The Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
