The Ocobo

Description

An Ocobo mesh pattern gutty ball with THE OCOBO and 27 1/2 (weight) to flat circular collar around two poles.

There is some paint loss, a few small dunts and one small crack, circa 1894.

The Ocobo ball was made by James B Halley of Finsbury Pavement, London, established in 1894. It featured a new type of pattern with longitudinal deep grooves criss-crossing lateral grooves, and with the pattern divided into four quadrants by a straight line from pole to pole. A flat circular collar at each pole featured the ball’s name and weight. It is an important ball because it features this new design and other makers were to copy the new pattern. The distinctive name Ocobo was a contraction of Colonel Bogey, and could be pronounced either in three short vowels or with the second one long.