Oak Stevens & Sons London Snooker Scoreboard 1890 Life Pool (SOLD)

A Beautiful Oak Life Pool Scoreboard by Stevens & Sons 
of Villiers St Charing Cross London 
 
Circa 1890s 
 
This solid Oak Scoreboard is complete and in near original condition with Makers Name and Address in Gold Leaf Detailing.
 
Wonderful detail and near perfect condition for its age with Mother of pearl inlay and 
Roller scoreboards with all numbers in good order, all the stars are in place and all in perfect working order, the blackboard is also in perfect order. A very rare example in this condition and a perfect investment opportunity. 
 
Size at widest points 35 inches wide - 34 inches high approx
 
Please see all pictures for Detail, Condition and Style -
 
 
Early history of  Stevens & Sons
 
Stevens & Sons where established in 1830 and by 1860 where located at Great Scotland Yard and Villiers Street Charing Cross. by 1870 the Scotland yard premises where vacated and they traded only from the Charring cross premises in Villiers Street from 1871.By 1889 this partnership was dissolved, but Richard carried on trading under the R Stevens Billiard table maker’s trade name until around 1917 
 
In 1918 William Stevens makes an appearance and the firm changes it name to W Stevens. Around 1925 the firm becomes a LTD Company and this is added to the name after this date, W Stevens Ltd.
 
Life Pool Brief history & information
An extremely popular game from the early 1800s and can be played by as many as 13 participants and has a collective stake to play for, each player begins with 3 lives, a life is lost if another player pots your ball or a foul is committed, another life can be purchased buy using the star mechanism.
 
Each player shoots with a ball distinctive to his colour and begins the game with 3 lives, the first player to lose all 3 lives may obtain a temporary reprieve by starring, which is the purchasing of additional lives, when these are also lost they are eliminated from the game, the last remaining player in the game wins the stake which was put in at the start.
 
This was a form of pool mainly played in the 19th century. It was one of several pool games that were popular at this time (so called because gamblers who pooled their bets at the start of the game. The object of the game was to be the last player left "alive" and therefore scoop the pool (take the winnings).
 
Each player had three "lives" to begin with and would lose one when another player potted their coloured ball which was designated to them at the start of the game. Using the same number of balls as players, players take turns striking their designated ball with the cue in an attempt to collide that ball with one or more of their opponents' balls knocking the opponent ball into a pocket. Once a player lost their three lives, they were declared "dead" The game continued in this way until there was only one player left, who was declared the winner. Around 1875, life pool merged with Black Pool to form the new game ofwhich started snooker, today one of the most popular Cue Sports in the world.