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Colored Sulfide


MC Marbles

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Further research:

Baumann, Collecting Antique Marbles, 3rd edition, Page 88

Identifies this figure as " Lady Godiva" a California Sulfide circa 1993-4

Lady Godiva was not an original known sulfide figure.

Where it does not mention in blue, it does shows this very same figure done in an amber reproduction.

(Plate 50)

I guess I answered my own question.

Thanks for your input everyone.

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Amethyst Sulphide

Be careful with colored Sulphide I won one and had it sent to Rick to take out the chips The color was just a thin layer OR some thing added but what ever it came back nice just very clear . Mikepost-94-0-72879500-1356969270_thumb.jpgpost-94-0-36218500-1356969260_thumb.jpg

That's interesting. Anyone know if polishing removes sun-tinting? i.e., is the violet color change due to exposure to sunlight only on the surface?

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I know of an Ohio bottle & jar dealer that takes old glass and sends it out to be irradiated (Like they do to chicken).

This process turns old glass a deep purple or a dirty amber color. I do not know if anyone has done it to marbles, but

it is only a matter of time.

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I know in the old days, they used chemicals to change the sulphide's exterior color. I've seen blue, purple, rose and yellow colored sulphides before that were only colored on the outside surface. My friend who polishes marbles has also uncovered the surface by polishing and the interior was simple clear glass after the initial polishing.

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Is the blue a color known from the 90s? And Rich do you have any info on that statement about folks chemicaly dying sulphides "in the old days", sounds interesting but I have never heard of such a case when talking Sulphide marbles.

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Uh oh..did someone say California Sulphide? :white-flag-25:

So is Baumann saying that any figure not known prior to 1993 is a CA Sulphide? I'm willing to bet that in the last 10 years more than one unknown figure has popped up. It always amazes me that people think just because something is printed in a book that it's accurate. (No offense Bob) But Baumann, Grist, etc. knowledge of marbles is good, but not gospel. This became glaringly apparent to me after meeting and talking with them.

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I thought I was asking a simple question. LOL

I understand some of the controversy of the "California Sulfides" (But not all)

I was just remarking Baumann's book helped reinforce my suspicions.

Thank you Bob for your confirmation.

Great info in this thread.

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I didn't base my opinion about the Lady Godiva on what Baumann said. A friend of mine who is a collector bought a group of "California Sulphides" back in the 1992-1993 time frame. There were two Lady Godivas in the group. It hasn't been seen as a figure, except in a "California Sulphide", before or after.

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These are close-ups of the fissures. I'm pretty sure these are pictured in Chervenka's book.

post-196-0-91234700-1357066050_thumb.png

post-196-0-24142100-1357066057_thumb.png

You can see evidence of these on the image in the first posting if you look at the right and left edges of the marble. It's beneficial that the Ebay seller posted such high resolution images of the marble. There was a CA Sulphide on Ebay earlier in the week, but the pictures were not as good.

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I think these sulphides look wonderful.

Galen, I asked Corning when I was there, what chemicals they used to color their clear glass and they told me that was a good question but they couldn't tell me because it was a well kept secret.

They did tell me that they indeed did use chemicals to color the clear glass because it was cheaper than buying glass that was already colored. They also said that they soaked the clear glass in chemicals for at least 5 days to get the desired colors they were looking for.

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The brown one pictured above was the one I was referring to.

The green one here bothers me. The swirling green is not the color or type of glass you would see in "traditional" colored sulphides. While I haven't seen this particular fish before, that doesn't mean anything because I haven't seen every one of the marbles from the CA Sulphide group, only about 35 or 40. The surface detail I can see at the right and left edges bothers me. Quite frankly, if I was cataloguing this one, I would not have estimated this anywhere near the $1100. Nor would I have expected it to come anywhere near that number.

Did it actually sell for $1100, I can't tell from the Ebay listing. I certainly would not have graded it much above 8.0, given the amount of pitting on the surface.

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