9-hole bagatelle

New arrival!  This is the classic 9-hole English Bagatelle that you will see quite often if you search antique auctions for "bagatelle".  The earliest references we've found so far to this game are from around 1830.

While the full tables are normally 7-10 feet long, this is a kids' version that is only 4 feet long.  For a while I had been looking for a proper full-size one, but they are actually hard to come by in North America, and shipping a full one from overseas would have been prohibitive.

Made for the toy shop Hamley's, I believe what I have here is what we see in this clipping from the Hamleys Toy Shop 1937 catalogue

1937 Hamleys Toy Shop catalogue

It is interesting to note the inclusion of a kids-sized bar billiards table, which would have been a quite recent trend in Britain at that time.  I would love to find a small bar billiards table like that too.

Photos from the auction house:

This shows off the accessories it comes with, including the original balls, cue, mace (before cues they used maces,) and the Pigeon Hole arch.