JOSSWEST
FOUR POINT "STUDY IN RED" VARIATION
WITH RED VENEERS, RED DIAMONDS
MACASSAR EBONY AND IVORY
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This cue was custom made for a private collector in 1992, who kept it in his collection for these past 30 years, unplayed and in new condition. It has never hit a ball, according to the owner. It is classic Josswest at his best in the early nineties, and typical of his best work at that time.
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Old timers will remember the early '90s when John Wright of Chicago was the biggest cue dealer in the country, and he was the main distributor of Josswest cues. At that time, he introduced a couple of cues that were named "Study in Red." It was one of his most popular designs, and over the next few years he built a number of variations on that design. This one is very close to the original, and I like it as much today as I did then - a true sign of great art.
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This cue is very close to the original design. The original Study In Red had more red - all red veneers, and more red in the rings. However, this variation is an actual upgrade on the original, with different colors in the veneers, and more inlay work in the points. The veneers in this one are red, black and natural maple, as opposed to the original, which was red, black, red.
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This one is also a bit different in that the original Study In Red had a Gabon ebony butt sleeve and points. In this one, the ebony was changed to macassar ebony, which isn't straight black. It has lots of striation, and in this case is a rich brown with dark, almost black streaks. It has more character than sheer black ebony, and is very pretty in this stick.
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The quickest way to describe this stick is to say it is a four point macassar ebony and maple cue with red inlays and Gabon ebony wedges between the points.
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Bill loved to lightly stain the maple in his forearms. Today, more cue makers opt to leave it natural, or even bleach it out to make it very light. But most Josswests, especially of this era, had the maple lightly stained before finish was applied.
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One of the nice things about buying these vintage cues is that so much of the work was done in ivory - legal ivory that was legally brought into the U.S. many decades ago. There is no other material that looks like ivory (though the new "Super Tusk" ivory substitute material looks close), but more importantly, no other material is as good to work with as ivory. In this cue, everything you see that is white is ivory, even the butt cap.
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This has always been one of my favorite Stroud designs - the four points with the ebony wedges between each set of points, with a floral-like point, and a long ivory reverse spear going downward. He used it on a number of cues, and it always looks good. Bill had a real artist's eye, and that always showed in his designs.
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Another thing I really like about this stick is the use of one of his best ring patterns. He used this pattern on his best cues right up until he passed away, and people never got tired of seeing it.
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Always one of my favorite Josswest front ends ...
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Stroud wrapped it with a white Irish linen wrap with black specks - very typical of the time.
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When you look at the intricacies and precision of Stroud's work in these early cues, it's obvious how far he was ahead of his time.
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As mentioned earlier, this cue is in new condition, never played, never chalked. The shafts are perfect and straight, as is the butt.
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This cue was displayed for 30 years with a similarly designed cue by Stroud that was built about the same time (Study In Red Variation with Black Lipped Mother of Pearl Windows). I will sell either cue separately, but they would certainly go well together in a collection.
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It has a polished stainless steel joint with his 5/16X14 steel pin, in a piloted joint. Both shafts are about 13mm and of exceptionally hard, tight grained maple that was more readily available at the time it was built. The ferrules are ivory, tips are probably LePros. It weighs 20.4 ounces (16.2, 4.2, 4.2) and is 58 inches long.
This is a highly collectible cue by a Hall of Fame Master. At the same time, it has that sought-after, desirable hit that Josswest cues had at that time.
PRICE: $8250 PLUS SHIPPING
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