1902 Independent Labour Party Silver Cricket League Medal by Fattorini & Sons for Sale

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1902 Independent Labour Party Silver Cricket League Medal by Fattorini & Sons For Sale

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1902 Independent Labour Party Silver Cricket League Medal by Fattorini & Sons:
$96.93

Tangible mementos of the founding decade of the Independent Labour Party are notoriously rare, making this cricketing medal an exceptional and important find.
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was established In Bradford in 1893 in the wake of the Manningham Mills strike, with Kier Hardie becoming its first chairman.
Seeing amateur sport as a channel for communicating with working people, in its earliest years, the ILP set up a cricket competition for the 'Fattorini Shield'. That Bradford's jewellers, Fattorini & Sons, should have provided the silverware for this competition was not unexpected: Antonio 'Tony' Fattorini had strong working class sympathies and donated generously to the Manningham Mills workers' strike fund. He was also a passionate sportsman and advocate for sport, having played an important role in establishing Rugby League and the Football League (Fattorini & Sons made the FA Cup and Rugby League Challenge Cup). He was also a passionate angler and organised the first British competitive chess league.
This medal is a participant award for competitors in the 1902 ILP Cricket League. As the medal is sterling silver and hand-worked, it is most likely the medal awarded to the players in the championship winning side.The medal features crossed cricket bats and decorative engraved swags with a rosette, and the inscription I.L.P C.L 1902. It has a hanging loop for a ribbon.
On the reverse side of the medal, the makers' marks are crisp, reading F & S for Fattorini and Sons, and Fattorini Bradford, with the 'Bradford' partially obscured by the positioning of the strike. The assay marks are lightly struck and rubbed. Under a loupe my best guess is the first mark is the anchor, for the Birmingham Assay Office. I believe the second to be the lion, for British manufacture. The date stamp is illegible, but a sweeping curve at the bottom, and the shield-shaped cartouche around the assay marks, suggest to me that the stamp is the letter C, which would put the date of manufacture at 1902, the date of the inscription on the front.
Of interest to political history, industrialisation and Labour Movement historians, cricket memorabilia collectors and collectors with an interest in the history of Bradford, this medal would make an important and exceptionally rare addition to many collections.
If you are interested in this lot, you may also be interested in item #235116909780 , an antique lapel badge which I believe belonged to the Amalgamated Society of Women Workers (1906-19).
Approximately 36mm x 25mm.
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