BobBlock Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 A little something I picked up yesterday. One of the 1925 National Marble Tournament trophies. It was awarded to Marie Lawley, the first girl to compete in the National Marble Tournament. Copper over plaster cast. New York Evening Post, June 3, 1925: "A sunburned girl kneeled on the hot sands of the beach yesterday and took an American sharpshooter aim at a lone 'commie' and missed, and in doing so lost her first real chance to outdistance her boy rivals for the league leadership in the national marble tournament. She is Marie Lawley of Harrisburg, who is tied in first place in the Eastern League ..." The sculpture was created in 1925 by Pietro Ghiloni, an Italian emigrant who worked in New York City. There were 64 participants in the tournament. I'm pretty sure one statue was presented to each participant. I'm only aware of 5 others that still exist, and two of those have heads that have broken off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatmacscott Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Very Cool. Nice piece. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Wow, perfect for a museum of marbles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 30, 2015 Report Share Posted October 30, 2015 Wonderful piece of history. So nice to know the details. Yea, Marie! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 There are at least 12 out there Bob. But the one with a girls name must be pretty rare! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christie Morgan Posted Sunday at 05:54 PM Report Share Posted Sunday at 05:54 PM Do you still have this? Marie Lawley was my Grandma and I never saw this in her home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted Sunday at 05:59 PM Report Share Posted Sunday at 05:59 PM 6 minutes ago, Christie Morgan said: Do you still have this? Marie Lawley was my Grandma and I never saw this in her home. Hi, Christie. Welcome. Super cool heritage you have. Not sure if Bob will see this question. I don't know how often he checks in or what kind of notifications he gets. Would be neat if you could track down the statue. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBlock Posted Monday at 11:46 AM Author Report Share Posted Monday at 11:46 AM 17 hours ago, Steph said: Hi, Christie. Welcome. Super cool heritage you have. Not sure if Bob will see this question. I don't know how often he checks in or what kind of notifications he gets. Would be neat if you could track down the statue. Good luck. Actually, I don't get notifications, but someone let me know this was here. Christie has already reached out to me via email, so we're talking about it. But, yes, I still have the statue. I bought it as part of Bert Cohen's collection, when I bought the collection after he passed away. I have no idea where Bert got it from, and of course Rosalie didn't know. Subsequently I leant it to the Kansas City Toy Museum back in 2018 I think for the exhibit that Scott McBride had put together on marble tournaments. Since then it has been sitting in the packing crate tucked in the back of my storage room. Interestingly, Marie Lawley was feted at the Eastern States Exposition (The Big E) the year that she won her championship and was presented with a loving cup marking the occasion. Coincidentally it came to me as a consignment earlier this year and I sold it in an auction over the summer. The listing is here: https://bid.marbleauctions.com/online-auctions/blocks-marble-auctions/miscellaneous-trophy-rare-presentation-trophy-silverplate-7973619 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carowill Posted Monday at 08:20 PM Report Share Posted Monday at 08:20 PM Thank you for sharing, Bob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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