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Value Of A Lightning Strike?


Steph

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3 hours ago, I'llhavethat1 said:

So nobody else thinks that looks like a pontil (or cutoff) on William's marble?  Years ago I picked up a white and blue one similar to this (with a busier pattern) and after seeing it inhand figured it was Chinese or Bulgarian.  I'm pretty sure it was handgathered/torchmade of some type.


The rotation in this view is interesting, but I'm not positing any opinion about how it was made.  This subject is definitely above my pay grade.

LightningBackLit%20(5).JPG

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Every lightning strike I've ever seen (four or five) and the one I owned had a translucent, moonie-type base that the lightning colors floated in, not on. It appeared that the marble in question had a very solid base and the colored lightning strike stayed on the surface, leading me to believe it was from a different source. There are an awful lot of Chinese imports these days - and the group just posted yesterday makes a compelling argument for that first one being of similar origin.

Speaking of China, I recently had an email conversation with a knowledgeable, high-end European collector who said that the lightning strikes - the big, ground pontil, original ones - may have originated from China, possibly from a game in the early 1800's. Their provenance is still unknown, which makes them even more desirable - or not. They are truly stunning in hand, though, as the base glass adds tremendous depth and an inner glow that you can only appreciate in person.

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