BobBlock

It's Satan, I'm pretty sure. Or Beelzebub, or one of those. The right leg is actually a hoof and the tail is wrapped around his waist twice. You can also see that the base has a wasp on it, not your typical honeybee.

Here is the winged letter opener with the base, so that it stands upright on your desk. It's one of my favorite pieces in my Victorian agate collection.

http://johnupdikechildhoodhome.com/2016/02/10/treasures-found-at-john-updike-childhood-home/

Another one of the great shows. Don't miss it if you're anywhere in that area!

Paperweight collecting is a much older and longer established hobby than marble collecting. Paperweights were considered works of art long before marbles

This type is referred to as a Bubble Harlequin Double by paperweight collectors. This is because it has a cushion base layer and then a layer floating above it (and the bubbles reference is obvious). This particular one is German, 1930s.

I bought a gutta percha from pawn-masters a month or so ago that was spot on. Shipping was quick. There's a lot of junk marbles in their listings though that you have to plow through to find any good ones.

The pontil, and surface sheen, are identical to known Bulgarians

Boyd Miller

Spara is correct, they are Chinese not German. I have several of the paperweights with the word China scratched on the bottom. The colors are also similar to flat China paperweights of the same time period. They are 1930s. It has been suggested that the birdcage ones are copies of authentic German paperweights. The China trade was very prolific in copying antique paperweights, particularly Sandwich and New England Glass Company florals. However, the clear glass is very obviously Chinese in all of these that I have ever seen, and there are no published accounts of genuine German birdcages.

Buy It Nows are listed at 5 cents a month

I just heard yesterday morning that he was ill, and I am deeply saddened by this morning's news :-(

I've seen these. They are not antique.

I've added it to the marble show calendar at http://www.marblecollecting.com/marble-community/marble-show-calendar

They all look Master

I've seen the playing pieces at various flea markets over the years, never with the box. There was a guy on Ebay a few years ago who had an original box of two-dozen of the pieces (4 each of 6 different colors) but the box had no markings on it. I didn't save the image.

If you need a ton of them, you can get them wholesale from Sylmar, Inc.

I saw it and did not bid because I felt it was not antique. Probably 1960s.

You can get the o-rings at home depot. I have tons of the acrylic ones if you need some

My general rule of thumb is that a handmade will depreciate about 10-20% for very very minor damage. The damage on your onion is more extensive so I'd expect 60-80% depreciation from a upper 9s example. For machine mades, unless they are rare or unusual, the depreciation rate is much greater.

Caramel Swirl

A little something I picked up yesterday. One of the 1925 National Marble Tournament trophies. It was awarded to Marie Lawley, the first girl to compete in the National Marble Tournament. Copper over plaster cast. New York Evening Post, June 3, 1925: "A sunburned girl kneeled on the hot sands of the beach yesterday and took an American sharpshooter aim at a lone 'commie' and missed, and in doing so lost her first real chance to outdistance her boy rivals for the league leadership in the national marble tournament. She is Marie Lawley of Harrisburg, who is tied in first place in the Eastern League ..." The sculpture was created in 1925 by Pietro Ghiloni, an Italian emigrant who worked in New York City. There were 64 participants in the tournament. I'm pretty sure one statue was presented to each participant. I'm only aware of 5 others that still exist, and two of those have heads that have broken off.

The French paperweight factories were St. Louis, Baccarat, Clichy and Pantin (though there are some smaller ones). They didn't really produce weights in between the wars. Most of the paperweight production in that time period was Bohemia. The colors in the marbles above are not French house colors. I agree that they were produced for the British market. Most of this type are found over there, which is why they were originally identified as Bristol.

Has anyone ever positively identified, by name, the glasshouse that made these?

I didn't realize the question was only for me either. I don't really have an opinion on the newer machine mades, but I know some people love to collect them.