More Boring Ceramic Marbles ;-)

[jeroen]

Hello,

A very interesting topic about the ceramic marbles. I have some very interesting old marbles. These are hand made salt glazed stoneware marbles. They look some how similar as the Bennington marbles, but they are much older and much rarer. These marbles are from the period 1580-1700. They were made in Germany, in a small town called Frechen, and in Belgium in a small town called Raeren. These are also the places where the well-known Bellarmine bottles were produced, with the same kind of glazing.

The book Colonial period and early 19th century children’s toy marbles by Richard Gartley and Jeff Carskadden, gives detailed information about these type of marbles. Here is aquote from the book:Brown salt glazed stoneware marbles seen in European collections range in size from about ½ inch to 2-1/2 inches in diameter,although they seem to cluster in two general size categories: 9/16 to 5/8 of an inch and 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 inches. Those of the largest diameters (over 2 inches)are the rarest; only two examples are known.

Robert Block writes in his book “Marbles identification and price guide on page 68,stoneware marbles over 2 inch, none known to exist. I know that there are several more over two inch, but this size is still very rare!

There are 4types of salt glazed stoneware marbles described in the book The book Colonial period and early 19th century children’s toy marbles: Brown salt glazed stoneware marbles, Gray salt glazed stoneware marbles, Raeren brown stoneware marbles, and Frechen tigerware marbles. Brown is the most common color, tigerware, and yellow are the rarest.

I loo forwar to you reactions. I have placed more photos in my album.

Jeroen

[Steph]

Wow. Thank you so much. It's awesome to hear the historical details. In your album, the greyish one with the yellowish highlights is striking. Many interesting features showing in many of the close-ups. Very cool.

[jeroen]

Hello Steph,

I have a large collection of these marbles. I you or other collectors are interested to purchase one or more of these marbles, that is possible. That greyish one is indeed very nice. I think it is the only one I have with this feature.

Jeroen

[akronmarbles]

Here's a few more - largest is just a 1/16" under 2" - middle is 1.5", and smallest is 1". These are all available as well :-)

[Ric]

Nice, I'm starting to like these types.