Fattorini Federation Clock c1909, with original box

Chess clocks do not feature particularly prominently in my collection, but this one was simply too wonderful not to make time for.

It was made by Fattorini & Sons, the firm credited with producing the first mass-produced double-sided mechanical chess clocks around 1883. This example dates to 1909, a conclusion I can make with some confidence because, remarkably, it still retains its original cardboard retail box.  This is rare, to say the least, I believe.

The box bears the name "Fattorini & Sons, Limited", while the clock itself is branded simply "Fattorini & Sons".  According to various online sources, the company incorporated in 1909 and subsequently adopted the "Limited" suffix, although Companies House records show an incorporation date of 1915. The discrepancy is difficult to explain with certainty. Some suggest it may relate to the lengthy legal formalities involved in incorporation, although I suspect the brothers may have incorporated in 1909 and then again in 1915 when taking over a Birmingham business, with only the latter appearing in the surviving Companies House records.

If that theory is correct, the clock was manufactured just before the adoption of the new company name, while the box was produced shortly afterwards.  The Fattorinis used movements from the Badische Uhrenfabrik AG, a prominent German clock manufacturer founded in 1889 in Furtwangen.

Even more delightfully, the original owner wrote his name on the underside of the box lid: "C.Y.C. Dawbarn". A little internet sleuthing reveals him to have been Climenson Yelverton Charles Dawbarn of Liverpool. Not only was Dawbarn a strong player who represented Lancashire in county chess, but records of several of his games survive.

Among them is a simultaneous exhibition given by none other than Joseph Henry Blackburne, the legendary "Black Death" of British chess. Blackburne dominated the British chess scene for much of the late nineteenth century and enjoyed a professional career spanning more than fifty years. Dawbarn managed to defeat Blackburne during the exhibition — surely a result of which he was immensely proud.

Impressive as that was, he later achieved a draw against Alexander Alekhine in 1928, a feat many players could only dream of. One cannot help but wonder whether this very clock was sitting beside the board.

The clock was acquired from the clearance of a Liverpool estate, together with a Jaques Staunton chess set dating from approximately 1890–95. Intriguingly, Dawbarn's simultaneous game against Blackburne took place in 1895. It is tempting to imagine that he purchased the Jaques set especially for the occasion.

Whether or not that was the case, it is rare enough to find an antique chess clock complete with its original box. To identify the original owner, trace aspects of his chess career, and connect the clock to a known figure in British county chess makes this a particularly special survivor and very worthy of a space in my cabinet.