Alan

It doesn't look right. In doesn't even look close to right. There are several qualities about this "box" that call it into question for me.

The record (I think) is held by Josh Simpson - who under a grant by Corning - created a 100 lb+ planet a few years ago. There is a DVD of it - well worth watching. It took him many tries over the span of a year, changes in technique and a lot of innovation. On the more sane front - Josh and others regularly turn out 5-8" diameter weights... up to 10" dia (the latter being more corporate display pieces IMO). The problem (I think) with very large weights is both technical and artistic....more of the latter I think. The technical is just mechanics, weight on the punty and a longer anneal. As a weight gets larger - controlling the design very well becomes more difficult. I own large Simpsons in the 3.5" range, Matthews at 3.25", and Harry Besset and Lundberg pieces > 3" dia. - so my sense is that is around the larger sizes targeted by many artists. Here are some really large Simpson pieces - the largest being around 10" dia.: Alan

Possibly done by Civil War soldiers in trenches around Atlanta?

While it is styled after a Jetson-like design - in my opinion it is rather crudely formed. Lacking any artist association - it looks like someone's early work. The size doesn't really come into the valuation until the marble, its design and the artist's execution "is there". IMO - that is lacking in the piece. With no artist association - IME the size doesn't become much of a factor. Of course you might find a person who falls in love with it and doesn't care about these things. In that case - its just a matter of agreeing on price.

Charles Gibson from Gibson Glass.

Here is a high res scan of it:

I have the original postcard and probably the videotape.

Good pics - thanks for posting them! Good to see some folks that I know.

and.........

Take care not to temperature shock the marbles.

The funny thing is that it was free. It came from a digger in a box that contained an Akro Agate machine funnel (I'm a sucker for Akro marble machine parts) and some cullet and misc. junk. I confess that it has a flat spot.

The Popeye in question is truly an Akro Agate-produced piece, unmolested in the same shape as it was dug on the site.

Hehe...

A Popeye:

I'll echo Sue's comments above. If you like them for what they are - buy them. If you think that they are some kind of potential "investment" - then I think you are missing the spirit of marble collecting. You are buying the marble - not the story. No-one knows how many more runs there will or won't be. Ask yourself this: Why would it matter? I for one would like a group of these. Your mileage may vary.

Opinion: It appears to have a construction in the "Jetson" style - but simplified to a single ring. It is a fairly simple piece - often sold at gift shops etc. Given that it is unsigned - it could be an someone's early piece. There is nothing in the glass or the style that points in any clear direction.

Although I own some weights - I'm by no means a good person to estimate. Perhaps posting it on a paperweight board might lead you towards an artist/value.

Is it signed?

Spooky masks...

Yellow base. Lot 61: Link

Yellow/red

Inclusions and faults are a function of how the batch (glass) and the marbles were made. There is a tendency among collectors to see marble making as an exacting process with an expectation of consistency. The reality is that marble making was done at the best possible speed. Handmades were limited to the speed of the multi-step process. Machine mades were a strictly volume business - with a good manufacturer producing several train boxcars every other day. Ingredients for the batch were shoveled from a pile on the factory floor. Given this - just about anything could end up in the batch. An interview with a vintage marble machine operator revealed that they enjoyed throwing small metal objects into the pot due to the flare that it would produce. So glass can have all manner of impurities in it - given the crudeness of the manufacturing process. There are handmades with foreign objects in them - but they are comparatively rarer (oven brick aside).