Trucco

Not to be confused with the card game truco.
Two gentlemen play trucco while an elegant company dines in a gazebo. English, early 17th century.

Trucco (also called trucks,[1] troco,[2] or lawn billiards) is an Italian and later English lawn game, a form of ground billiards played with heavy balls,[1] large-headed cues sometimes called tacks, a ring (also called the argolis or port), and sometimes an upright pin (the sprigg or king).[1] The game was popular from at least the 17th century[1] to the early 20th century, and was a forerunner of croquet,[3][4] surviving for a few generations after the introduction of the latter.

  1. ^ a b c d Shamos, Mike (1999). The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. New York: Lyons Press. p. 265. ISBN 9781558217973 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary; see "troco" and "trucks" entries.
  3. ^ Gomme, Alice Bertha. Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Volume II, p. 309. 1898 (Dover Books reprint 1964)
  4. ^ Important British Paintings 1500-1850, Sotheby's catalogue L07123 22 November 2007, p. 24