---- Exceedingly rare Victorian checkers and draughts "Balloter" ,

Designed and produced around 1895-1910, an exceedingly rare "Karo" balloter made and registered by G.J. Bevens of 79 Bentham Road, South Hackney, London N.E. The Balloter consists a 3-inch square shallow leather(?) covered box with a hinged lid and brass catch, similar to a small jewellery case. Contained within is a freely rotating brass pointer moving around a printed and varnished card dial. Spinning the pointer stipulates the opening moves to be made in a game of Draughts or Checkers under the "Two-move restriction" rule, an improvement introduced in the 1890s to lessen the frequency of draws in competition games. G.J. Bevens appears to be unrecorded in the annals of draughts or checkers nor have we been able to determine absolutely what "Regd 520469" (printed on the card dial below the pointer in the illustration above) refers to. However, the cumulative total throughout the years of numbers of registered applications for British patents reached the 520,000 level in 1900-01 so it is possibly a patent application reference number. It has also been suggested that this number could be a Design Registration number which would date the item a touch later, to 1909 although it is understood that these design registration numbers were more normally recorded in the format Rd No xxxxx rather then, as here, Regd 520469. However, whatever the precise year of manufacture, stylistically, the device certainly dates from the late Victorian and Edwardian period, substantially prior to the first World War. The typographical error "G.J," (with a comma) on the lid in place of "G.J.", coupled with the slightly uneven white lettering, suggests that this might be a one-off demonstration model, with the item perhaps never having gone into commercial production. In any event, this Balloter by G.J. Bevens of Hackney is an exceedingly rare, or perhaps even unique, early artefact to be used in applying the "Two-move restriction" rule, the first important innovation in the development of tournament and competitive Draughts and Checkers. In very nice condition with but a little loss of the yellow varnish on the dial, revealing the underlying printed white card. (Book ref. misc-128)  £275.00

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