Alan

I have a fair group. The Tie Dyes are the only ones I have a pic of at the moment.

Killer!

Years ago - "as made" became a weak-kneed, weasel-word excuse by some trying to sell a marble with a flaw.... as if it made the flaw somehow more acceptable.

They look like they are from a game ..... like mancala. Sort of that sea glass texture - probably from tumbling.

Cooked, lots of missing glass... possibly polished before it was (over)heated and worked. In its original form it was probably a very nice piece.

Less of a snake and more of an oxblood pigtail. The spinner cup was having a fit, I think:

Colorant is sold is various physical forms - but the form that I am personally most aware of is in solid rods, bars or ingots. The hallmark of colorant is that it is a consistent color throughout AND it is generally uniformly formed. Cullet as you are probably are aware - is whatever excess they had in the factory - dumped on the floor to cool. It is rarely uniform in color (Akro brick cullet is a known exception) and is usually in broken chunks. Cullet usually has multiple glass types randomly distributed through it - being the product of dumped pots. The other indicator that your piece (which seems from what I can tell from the photo to be of exceptionally uniform color and shape - as if manufactured that way) is that the colorant seem over-rich with metal flake. This seems to me to be an intentional over-saturation of the metal salts that give the glass its color. If you would like me to examine a tiny piece of it for other observations - I would be pleased to do it. Regards, Alan

Of course I don't have it in hand - but that looks like colorant to me - not cullet.

Based on that view alone - I don't think that would be a Sparkler.

I covet your wirepulls.

Osama Bin Laden literally sleeps with the fishes.

That chunk of yellow would look good twisting through a piece of this oxblood:

I was reminded of a marble I tucked away many years ago. An "Atomic Marble" from the Hanford nuclear reactor. I had to do some serious digging to find it!

Thanks for posting this, David.

Sorry to hear of this. Just a general observation: A collector wouldn't steal a torch and hoses.

Reminds me of the Atomic Marbles sold ~20 years ago. I haven't seen one in a long time. They came singly in a small paper envelope with the story on the outside.

It is not consistent with any of the clear/Oxblood Akros I have seen. I have seen this seam/clear/oxblood pattern in a photo before - but cannot immediately place where. Can you check to see if it flouresces?

Looks like Leona Helmsley.

I'd venture that it is contemporary - and wouldn't surprise me if it was later found to not be glass.

I fent.

I was referring to the patch in the OP.

Its not a chocolate oxblood.