Alley Av Lutz

[wvrons]

A piece of cullet found at Alley St,Marys site that matches Alley av/lutz marbles. I am not so sure Alley av/lutz marbles were a chemical reaction or that they just happened. Alley was adding av/lutz cullet. Now to find out if he or who made the cullet glass? Difficult to photograph but the flat piece of cullet matches the Alley av/lutz perfect and it is all through the cullet,solid with the same exact color av/lutz.

[wvrons]

[wvrons]

[duffy]

purty kewl!!!im gonna hafta look for that bucket of st marys cullet and scrap from 10 years ago!!

[wvrons]

I may try some more pictures if we ever get any sunlight or different lighting. The cullet matches exact.

CLICK on the picture and enlarge.

[Alan]

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

[mibcapper]

.. yada-yada-yada ... guess more samples needed .. huh .. ron .. .. i know a volunteer ... more of that cullet just waiting ... .. bill

[mibcapper]

purty kewl!!!im gonna hafta look for that bucket of st marys cullet and scrap from 10 years ago!!

i can help steve ... .. bill

[Steph]

The blue green marble and the plank have uncannily similar sparkle.

[clydetul62]

I have a marble just like that cullet. Bought it Los Aangeles show in '08. Plain blue flames on one side. Turn it over. WOWSA. Lutz flammes. Sometimes it pays to turn the marble over in the display.

[wvrons]

Alan,what does colorant look like? Or what is the difference in colorant and cullet.

[david Chamberlain]

Hey Ron, I've got one of them marbles! Now all you need to do is break off teeny-tiny pcs. of that cullet and sell them like they was relics. Elvis's hair, splinters from the Cross, brass seat-back numbers from Jerry's last concert and now Alley aventurine/lutz cullet. I sorta see it as the Holy Grail of Alley Agate Co. David

P.S. YOU'VE GOT MY ADDRESS!

[Alan]

Alan,what does colorant look like? Or what is the difference in colorant and cullet.

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

[lstmmrbls]

maybe that is what formed Alley Oxblood??

o

[wvrons]

Thanks for the reply Alan. I guess that i have got use to hearing cullet also as colored and clear scrap glass,like the old Vitrolite tiles,pieces from Fenton glass,Wissmach stained glass,window glass,etc. refered to as cullet. Almost if not all the old WV marble companies along with Jabo today used this for color in making marbles. The Gabbert family,cullet company in Williamstown WV since the early 1930,s still hauls and supplies cullet or colorant,today to Jabo and others. Not all but a big percentage is one solid color and flat. Or different shapes from Fenton,different thickness,usually broken up different sizes. This piece of av/lutz looking,is similiar to vitrolite tile pieces,size and thickness but most of the Vitrolite tiles were ribbed on the back side,for the mastic or cement. This piece is smooth on the back. Some of the Vitrolite had the bumps or bubbles like this piece. Probably why they were rejected. We also use the rods,bars,etc at Jabo for marble colors. But Dave always has buckets of broken flat single colored glass to use for color striping. He also has flat pieces of broken solid color glass with green aventurine. The old company owners and workers just refered it to me as marble cullet. Vitrolite was also used by Alox. Most of the Vitrolite tiles were about 1/4 inch thick,but they made it over one inch thick. We found large amounts of it,even one inch pieces at Alox. It was almost always a single consistent color. They did laminate two colors together but they are rare. Marble companies that definately used Vitrolite were,Akro,Alley,Alox,Cairo,Heaton,Champion,Davis,Jackson,MK,Ravenswood. Of course Vitro,that name likely came from Vitrolite. Art Fisher was a employee of Vitrolite. He had the idea of using Vitrolite cullet to make marbles. So Art Fisher and Prestley Lindsay(also Vitrolite employee)started Vitro Agate marble Co. right next door to the Vitrolite factory.

I would send you part of this av/lutz piece,colorant or cullet,but it does not belong to me. I may have to check some of my dirty buckets from years back. There is tons of Vitrolite and other pieces left behind at the above marble sites.

[david Chamberlain]

Of course, you don't have to send me a piece of that sweet little sparkly chunk. Heck, you've been generous twice as much as necessary. And you ain't a woofin' about the abundance of Vitrolite at all those dig sites! To think I got excited in March of 2003 when Mike Johnson sent me a couple pcs. of Vitrolite and Wissmach Glass. David