BOWLS IDENTIFICATION .....
I got these bowls in a thrift store here in Canada last week and was wondering if anyone could be of help to me in learning something about them.
These bowls are made of lignum vitae wood (I think) weighing 3 pounds each. They are 4.5/16 inches tall and 5 inches wide. They have had considerable use but don’t appear to have been willfully abused. They bear the small nicks, cracks and scratches of time and the ivory inserts have been cracked. Each is numbered 1 through 4
They each have many marks of identification. Each has four date stamps but only one in discernible, the most recent I suspect. Marked around the inside of a 20mm circle are the letters D BIBC D (I’m not entirely sure of these letters as they’re hard to read. Maybe the D’s are O’s) and the word: “OFFICIAL” and then the number 64 is stamped in the center within a 10mm circle.
In the area around the monogram “H.W.” is the word “CRESCENT”, a large letter “R”, the word “KINGS” in quotation marks and “DESIGN 785189 REGISTERED ????” (indiscernible word).
On the opposite side around the bowl number is the word “LONDON”, “BIAS 3” and 5” and what looks to be the Serial No. “J87 11817” (this # is not the same on each bowl) and the company name: “TAYLOR-ROLPH Co. Ltd.
The above description has been gleaned through the study of each of the bowls as no one bowl has markings clear enough.
How old are they?
Are they for indoor or outdoor bowling?
Is the wood really Lignum Vitae?
Are they quite common? (They’re rare here in Canada)
Are they valuable?
Do the marks tell you anything of their provenance? i.e. “London”, “Kings”, “Crescent”
What does the letter “R” Stand for.
If anyone wishes to help me but needs more pictures, I can send them.
Thanks for looking. Joan.