Posted 13 years ago
Hlessey
(1 item)
Hey Folks,
Recently started sorting through some marbles my 93 year grandmother left me. I did a little pre-research, found that a good many of them are likely vintage machine made. But a few may be handmade. What I'm trying to figure out is how distinct is the cut off mark on handmade marbles & how it varies. Above are some of the ones I think are handmade, though the yellow one I'm not so certain. Some of the marbles not pictured have very subtle puckers in one spot, like a smooth pinch, is that handmade?
And any info about the picture marbles would be great, thanks!
Oops, & the second image is the another angle of the first marble. I just think it's gorgeous!
I am an avid Agate hunter,and search the shores of Lake Superior as often as possible for rough Agates.I recently stumbled across a boulder sized marble that is entirely made of Blue Lace Agate.I am not an expert by any means,however just by glancing @ your pics here,the first one,(green and brown)appears to have some fine quarts banding in the green area. The brown parts may be Waterline Agate. 2nd marble(3rd pic) I tend to believe it is machine made,from glass,but still may be rare.It is deff. unusual. 3rd marble...my heart rate went up when I saw this one,If it is what I suspect,it is made from Lake Superior Agate and is VERY rare! get yourself a good magnifying glass,look closely at the banding in the swirls.go to http://www.agatelady.com (this is Karen Brzys) she lives on Lk. Sup. and IS an expert. also,google The Beauty of Banded Agates,by Michael R. Carlson. for some strong photographic examples. you could also try googling rare marbles,that was how I found out about mine. Whatever you find out,thanx for sharing they are truly beautiful.
Hi Becky,
Wow, thanks so much for the imformation!! I will get in touch with Karen & see if she can help. I would love to be able to identify the marbles, I have a few others and feel so ignorant about figuring out what they are. Thnkss agaon, I'll post a follow up to what I find out :)
Hi,this is Becky,I finally filled out a profile for this site so now you can find me on here. Cant wait to hear back from you,looking forward to it... and your quite welcome ;)
Hi
I have some marbles that date to pre-WW 2 and they are supposedly "transitional." Look for a "pontil", or a groove mark in the marble, where the artist cut it off of the rod.
The second marble (clear with colorful interior) looks like a ribbon core swirl, named for the ribbon shaped glass inside it, running from pole to pole. At the top, just a little to the right, there is the pontil mark, where the ribbons meet at one of the poles. These are hand-made, often from Germany. I have seen similar marbles of this type, dated from the 1890's. I can't tell from the picture, but this type of marble is further classified as being a divided or undivided core, depending on whether the ribbons are loosely swirled, with an open space visible between them, or tightly swirled, with no visible space. Hope this helps.