Alan

The handmades on the Solitaire board were huge - ~2" in diameter! Royal Morse:

I took a lot of photos at the New Philly show and thought that I would share them with others. It was a very good show with quite a quantity and array of quality marbles for sale. Kudos to Steve Smith for putting it all together. Enjoy the pics! Alan Carl Fisher and his work with polymer clay: Two pieces based upon his wife's vintage paperweight (top): Show Hall: Zillions of Jabos: A pause in the show to recognize Smitty's great work in organizing and promoting the show:

They do not apear to be what have popularly become known as "English colors" IMO.

The cullet you show in the pics appears to have come from the factory breaking down a furnace/pot and rebuilding it. That would also easily explain large, heavy pieces.

Akro Agate's largest production size was 1" - although rare experimental varieties exist larger than 1" (a very rare few substantially larger).

IIRC the Fairlylite toy company was owned by the Graham Brothers in the UK. It manufacturerd and imported from Japan. The logo below looks like a match to yours:

The thought crosses my mind that it would not be inconceivable for it to be Jabo.

I'm not aware of Champion furnace marbles anywhere approaching 15/16" dia.

For a "hand gathered" marble - the gaffer picks up a quantity of hot glass on the end of a steel rod (known as a punty) using a circular motion. That hot (and flowing) glass is then held over the marble machine and is allowed to drip at a reasonably constant flow rate into a machine which takes a small portion of the hot glass and rounds it into a sphere. A helper stands near the hot glass gather with glass shears to cut the appropriate quantitiy of glass for each marble. In a handmade marble - a cane of glass is slowly constructed in a series of successive steps to build a design in the form of a cylinder on the end of a punty. For a Latticinio core swirl or example - the gaffer would pick up a quantity of clear glass and begin to gradually form it into a cylinder - perhaps 4" in diameter or so. This is Harry Bessett demonstrating at Wheaton Village: The gaffer will use calipers to know the circumference of the cylinder and will adjust towards a specific circumference. That circumference is important for the next step - picking up individual thin color rods that will form the latticinio core. The color rods are placed on a marver plate (usually steel) with parallel grooves to hold the color rods to be picked up. The rods are heated by an assistant to bring them to a temperature similar to that of the cylinder to allow them to adhere and to avoid temperature shock. An assistant heats the color rods on a white grooved marver plate: When the cane cyliner is the right dimension - it is laid on the end of the grooved marver and slowly rotated across the face of the marver - picking up the latticinio rods. If the dimension is correct - the rods will be evenly spaced after the last one is picked up (if not - there will be a gap). The cylinder and rods will go into the gloryhole to be heated together and go to the steel marver table to be pressed together evenly. Then back to the gloryhole. Another gather of clear is made on to of the core rods. Rememer that the cylinder is still quite thick - 4-6" or so. If you look closely you can see the latticion core color rods inside the clear: If it is a two stage piece (outer bands) - the artist will prepare to pick up outer color rods (which may also become flattened ribbons) in the same way the core was set-up on a grooved marver plate. The outer rods are picked up, heated, rolled on the marver and one last gather of clear is collected from the pot. This is now rolled into a even cylinder. Back into the glory hole for re-heating: Back to the marver for shaping and smoothing: Here is a pic of Geoff Beetem using the marver: That cylinder is likely larger in diameter than the desired marbles - so it is "pulled down" to a smaller diameter. This is done by re-heating it evenly (end to end) and having an assistant grasp the end of the thick cane with a tool and pulling in opposite directions until the desired diameter is reached. (This pic is of pulling murrini cane - but it is the same process) The artist then uses glass shears to cut off the end of the cane - which is a somewhat ragged collection of colors and uneven glass. That new "end" of the cane is the start of a marble and is rounded into a sphere by use of a wet hardwood cup. The artist then sits and uses a pair of jacks to begin narrowing the cane at a point by constantly revolving the punty - back and forth (remember that the cylinder of glass is hot and fairly soft). This continues until the marble takes its spherical shape. Geoff Beetem: The "neck" of the marble narrows until the artist is ready to remove it from the cane like this: Geoff Beetem fire polishing the pontil: Voila - a new handmade marble! Hope this helps! Alan

I can't say for sure without handling it - but it apears to be handgathered slag-ish to me. The photos are marginally lit so I can't be sure - but I don't see details that would lead me to believe that the red is oxblood.

John: That would call for some real speculation. I'm certainly missing some. I have one of the orange Ravenwood catalog fliers that came with the crate find and its impossible to discern what marble is what from the black and white photos. I'd love the chance to dig through someone else's Ravenwood crate marbles to see if they are all the same or there is some diversity. Ravenswood's use of clear and a nearly uniquely swirled second color in a predictable jumbled pattern is a good diagnostic. Like any marble manufacturer - handling a lot of their material over time and getting used to what colors the used (and didn't generally use) is helpful in ID. Of course there are always the oddball types (some of which are pictured above) that out of left field and could be easily mis-identified or go unidentified because they break the color or pattern trend. Regards, Alan

I would say that the marble on the right is a definite. The one on the left is a little hard for me to get a feel for - so I would have to withold a call on it. Alan

Wrapping things up: Here are a few group photos to give you a different perspective: I hope some find this discussion and the accompanying photos to be helpful when identifying Ravenswoods. End series You are free to use these photos without restriction for your personal uses but they may not be used on/in for-profit websites or publications. Contact me if you have a question.

Part V A mix of Ravenswood greens - transparents and mostly opaques: Two very nice transparent blues - which may be variants of the 4 posted in the premium group: More transparents: Clear with whispy white swirls in the matrix: Only one of its color/pattern I have of this: Two florescent Ravenswoods I have. They do not photogrph well to show that there is an underlying pattern in the opaque matrix: Shifting to opaques once again: I found these mixed with the common Ravenswood swirls that came from the 1987 find crates. They have fairly good flames of transparent color on an opaque white base. I hve no idea why these are sole examples of flames that I have seen from the large groups I have gone through. End Part V

Continuing the transparent varieties: Hre are some different transparent Ravenswoods. Following the "a picture is worth a thousand words" approach - I think the photos are good enough for your studied eye to discern the colors, patterns and nuances of the types: Aqua blue:The piecs on the left and right have an almost corkscrew of opaque white in the core: Aqua blue: Blue variants: The following types are made up of a clear matrix with brown/amber and white swirls jumbled throughout the matrix. As you can see from photos presented erlier - this jumbled internal pattern is a repeated theme on transparent Ravenswoods - although not all. (Note the marble in the upper left. Notice anything different/ unusual about it's matrix color? Its vaseline (uranium oxide) glass - the only one of its type I have. Here it is alone in sunlight: Here it is under UV light: I cannot explain why they used vaseline glass in a minority of the run. In my experience, vaseline glass was not used by Ravenswood - although I have two opaque florescent types (see further along in this thread). Emerald green transparents: This is a single Ravenswood piece that I have that is among the most beautiful that I've seen. I only have one like it. Transparent clear with off-red swirls with a wispy white: End Part IV

The next type I'll present is an opaque white base wih a small amount of clear) with transparent green "snake" swirls on the surface. The green in this type is usually accompanied by Ravenswood's version of oxblood in a fine thread - usually defining the margins or the center of the transparent green swirl. One of the beter "common" Ravenswood swirls. A variation on the above type is an opaque white base with a single color brown swirl in light or medium tone. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6168.jpg Another opaque white base type has blue or blue-gray swirls: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6169.jpg Another opaque white base type has transparent light green or transparent aqua surface swirls. These color swirls have some limited depth into the marble. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6171.jpg Another opaque white base type has busy transparent orange swirls - often with good depth into the white matrix. These orange swirls sometimes form near-flame patterns. The transparent orange may (rarely) be the predominant color of the marble (instead of the white base). http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6173.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6174.jpg Moving to transparent base glass Ravenswoods - the next type has a transparent emerald green base with jumbled white swirls throughout. The green can shift towards aqua in a few examples. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6175.jpg Side view - with some backlighting: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Eyesofsilver/Marbles/Ravenswood/IMG_6176.jpg End Part III

Also in the premium classification group are gray swirls. These tend to be multiple shades of gray with a white switl and perhps 10-16% clear. The result is fine detail lines throughout this type - fairly busy pattern. They tend to average 19/32" up to 5/8"... but usually closer to 19/32". In my experience these are much harder to find than the brown-based swirls and seem to exist in very limited quantities. The next premium type is an opaque white based swirl with a bright blue and trnsparent honey-amber swirl. The white base is a pure, brilliant white - not the creamy off-white we tend to see in other WV swirls. One diagnostic for this type is that the honey-amber swirl color has good transparency and depth into the white matrix. Noice the detail lines in he blue... almost like elevation contour lines on a topgraphic map. This type is fairly hard to find - like the grays above. (Note: 15+ years ago some dealers sold these as Christensens) The next premium type is a Ravenswood version of a Coral. Opaque green base with black and coral swirls on the surface. They usually have good detail lines in the green and nice shading in the coral. Hard to find. The next premium type is a clear matrix with bright blue and white swirls in almost a jumbled wirepull pattern. The clear is VERY clear glass and the blue is an icy blue. The average size is 9/16-19/32". A very bright an attracive marble. I have seen very few of these and own only 4. The last premium type I'll be describing is a marble that didn't jump out at me when I fist saw it. It is a very dark cobalt blue marble that appears almost opaque. When backlit - an internal pattern of cobalt clue in a clear matrix is seen in the same style as smoke rises in the air. Hard to find - I have only even seen 7 of them. Very hard to photograph decently. This concludes premium types that I will cover in this writing - although there are a few more that exist. The next type is an opaque light green/blue base with a transparent bright blue surface swirl. The blue swirl tends to spread on the surface like a transparent veneer - but aslo has some depth into the marble depending on how the swirl was laid onto the marble. Although classified as a common type - I have found them in limited quantities and find the color combination to be attractive. I have one variation on the Coral described above that has the same opaque light green base as the Coral, but has only one color swirl - a black/dark gray veneer at the surface with no/little transparency. I own only one example of this color combination. End Part II

A fellow Board member saw a photo of one storage case of Ravenwoods of mine and asked me to post a photo review of Ravenswood marble types in my collection. There seems to be a shortage of good classification resources available with clear photos - so I thought I would "pay it forward" for the good advice I received years ago from David Chamberlain (who got me started collecting Ravenswood and whom I hold largely responsible for my Ravenwood habit/expenitures! ). Some background: Many years ago I attended the Seattle club show and met David Chamberlain. I knew nothing about Ravenswood and ultimately purchased one of his Ravenswood Identification assortments (which came with a slip of paper with a Ravenswood overview). Shortly thereafter I attended the Columbus, OH show and met a dealer who had purchased a considerable quality of Ravenwoods from the ~1987 find of crated marbles. He had been through the large quantity he had purchased and had separated the premium varieties from the more common swirls and was selling both for reasonable asking prices. I began cherry picking from the roughly 2-3,000 pieces he brought to each show and over time amassed a fair quantity. With a single exception, my buying of Ravenwood was limited to these two sources - both of which traced back directly to the 1987 crates find (the exception was a very nice group of 20 mint brown-based cobalt blue Ravenwoods that I happened upon in Amana - uniquely Ravenswood due to their color). The Ravenswoods in my collection are limited to those varieties that were in the 1987 crate find. While they have provenance - they do not represent the full Ravenwood line during their production years. Therefore the photos below do not represent all Ravenswood varieties. I generally divide Ravenwoods into premium and average swirls types. The premium types can be pretty hard to find (some of them extremely hard to find). Ravenswood used colors and in some cases patterns that are unique to Ravenswood marbles. In some cases you need to study the marble for a bit to pick-up the details to differentiate Ravenswood from Champion - or any number of other West Virginia marbles. When the base color is opaque - Ravenswood often used a very transparent swirl color to "snake" across the surface. This line of transparent color commonly dives down into the marble proving some color depth. This is often a good Ravenswood diagnostic when used with other ID methods. The premium types: There are several Ravenswood varities that are quite striking and fairly under-represented compared to the total Ravenswood output. One of the most recognized are the brown-based swirls. To the best of my knowledge Ravenswood was the only marble company that produced a swirl where the predominant color as brown (with a transparent cobalt blue or emerald green swirl). This gives the marble (IMO) an understated and striking beauty. In my experience the brown-based cobalt swirls with cobalt blue are somewhat harder to find than the emerald green - although both are uncommon to find. Brown-Based Cobalt Blue swirls: Brown-Based Emerald Green swirls: I have a number of brown-based Ravenswoods where the brown is noticeably lighter - sort of a cafe-Au-lait tone and the transparent swirl color sometimes lighter as well. I attribute this to variability in the production run - not a different variety. The appearance is different though and could cause some uncertainty - so here is a photo to illustrate it. Notice the swirl color differences an each side of the fold: I have a single example of a brown base with a black swirl. The black does not show much transparency - unlike the blues and greens. End Part I

None. The two glasses have different densities and clearly the oxblood moves to the surface - which IMO suggest a higher density. I think the internal limited oxblood is pretty common with the exception of some of the clear oxblood "experimentals" that were dug at the factory. Those exhibit a good internal mix of oxblood - which make them fairly dark.

It seems that the subject of oxblood and how it covers, swirls or mixes with a marble's base glass comes up in threads with some regularity. I came across a batch of Akro milky oxbloods I acquired many years ago. In the group was a "throw away" that got tossed in - with a heavy fracture through it. I popped it in half by hand and the resulting photos of the outside versus the inside speaks volumes about oxblood density and how it tends to move and spread to the surface. I thought I would share this since most of us won't encounter broken oxblood marbles. The outside: and the inside...

My favorites are in a display case - so here are some from my storage cases: Florescents:

They do a clear gather and create the first sphere - about 2". It is then annealed and cooled to room temperature. They then use glass paints to make the inner sphere artwork - placing art in specific places. I *think* they then fire the glass paint to the first sphere. Once fired they then put it in a kiln and slowly bring it back up to temperature, punty it up and do a clear gather over the first sphere - enough to give the 1st and 2nd layers depth. It then gets knocked off the punty again, back into annealing and brought back down to room temperature slowly. The second layer of art is applied with "windows" in the apropriate places to see the art in the first gather. They fire the second layer of paint as before, ramp it back up in the kiln, punty it and then do a final clear gather over the 2nd layer of art. As you can see - there is a lot of work in them. They did a collaboration with Josh Simpson with head figures with open mouths with Simpson planets inside. Clear stars on the top of the head lit he planet. Pretty cool. From their website: They are far more interesting in the hand than in photos.

I thought that I would share a Harry and Wendy Bessett collaboration with Ken Leslie. It is a large, two-stage piece, hand painted. Enjoy!

I once saw a really nice MK Watrmelon with a small screw in it.

Looks like oven brick and a little soot. They were probably at the bottom of the pot.