English Carved Ivory Lottery or Teetotum Gambling Ball
Epoque 1600-1800
Origine England
Medium Marine ivory
Epoque: 1600-1800
Origine: England
Medium: Marine ivory
Literature: Teetotum balls give the gambler more of a winning chance than a spinning dice, because when thrown the faceted numbered sides of a ball give an equal chance of any number turning up, unlike dice.
Lotteries first began to be an acceptable form of raising money for government funds under Elizabeth I in 1568-69 when urgent repairs to the harbours and coastal fortifications of England were needed to repel any seaborne invasion from the Spanish. Successive Acts of Parliament then established lotteries as a legitimate means of increasing revenue and they became a lucrative source of government income even during the Commonwealth under the puritan rule of Oliver Cromwell.
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