China's .........

[mibcapper]

from the scenic examples to the variety of lesser patterns .. would the glazed .. or un-glazed .. examples cost me more ?? bill

[mibtalk]

I would say unglazed for sure........lol................anybody else can chime in

[mibcapper]

not much interest shane ...............

[lstmmrbls]

I would think the glazed as the unglazed are the easiest to fake????

[winnie]

I would think the glazed are more desirable,they're more durable.

[popeyecollector]

Mibcapper sez, "Not much interest." Too bad Shane.

China marbles that were decorated - unglazed and glazed - be it lines, spots, leaves, bird tracks, flowers, elaborate designs or scenes - were all done by hand. Glass cane cut marbles and agates were also hand manipulated by labor intensive activities. All these were created at the whim and the artistic skill of the frantic cottage industry worker. Many of us appreciate their work and admire their production. Same goes in spades for the under appreciated contemporary marble makers of today. Those marble making people of today are truly creative and should be viewed with awe for the orbs they are turning out. But, sadly no.

The machine mades of the last hundred years have grabbed the spotlight and made some all gaga and deeply invested in what has been spit out by robotic factories. They were turned out daily by the boxcar load, a pattern dictated by the luck of the batch mix, and tweaking of the machines by the plant engineer. Who then went home and let a night shift try to keep the process going 24/7. Add beer bottles, lawn chairs and a sleepy crew - now machine collectors have pigeon holed these low quality control factory products ad nauseum.

Sure, some are beautiful. But not many beauts existed in a boxcar, workers lunch bucket or a factory dump site. Great hype on some discoveries,

but . . .

When I was a kid I marveled at how far my Wrist Rocket slingshot could send a machine made marble up the calm Blue River in Nebraska.
And let's never forget, as the prices continue to go up - those scoundrels in China, Bulgaria, etc. with their torches, furnaces and growing skills will soon be able to dead on reproduce any marble -- as has been done with so many other collectables.

Can we discuss this and not turn it into a brawl . . .

Big Indian -- no braid "Stay thirsty my friends."

[mibcapper]

thanks for the thoughts. glazed or un-glazed is the easy part on china's for me. too much talent in the fakes is also obvious . and no problem with opinions popeyecollector ... bill

[Steph]

Here's a little technical information about the chinas and glazing:

http://marbleconnection.com/topic/15447-lets-see-some-marble-pics/?p=133871

[mibcapper]

Here's a little technical information about the chinas and glazing:

http://marbleconnection.com/topic/15447-lets-see-some-marble-pics/?p=133871

excellant .. thanks steph .. bill