Geordies Liggies Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 I recently purchased a couple of marbles from an antiques dealer on e-bay. I posted these recently on the Marble ID form and got a small number of replies. The consensus of opinion was that they may be contemporary German marbles. I was wondering whether any of our German members might recognize the (quite striking) style, and be able to identify the maker. All suggestions welcome (not just from German members!). Danke schon, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoody Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Hi Geordies Liggies, as one of the German members I need to tell you, I have no idea what those are or where their origin is. I am less dedicated to collectibles than to build marble runs with today's industrial made marbles. So I can not help you further here. May be if there is some translation necessary for some German sites you found, I can try to do my very best. Youre liggies are really nice, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 That could be one of the American contemporaries. Are there noticeable pontils? Looks like a layer of mica on top and we have artists that can do that style. I can't see pontils on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 See below/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Steph, I can't post pictures here. I'm not getting the usual things to click on. Like the little image button I used to click and post my hosted pics. Never mind Steph. I figured it out. Thanks anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sissydear Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 This is a Boyd Miller with mica in the core. It's contemporary. This is a John Gentile, also contemporary with mica on the outside. These are perfectly round, no sign of a pontil like the old Germans. I think your marble is contemporary, but not necessarily German. What makes you know or think it is German? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordies Liggies Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Hi Hoody and Sissydear, Many thanks for your replies. The probable reason that Germany was favoured by those few who replied to my request, is likley to be down to the fact that the antique dealer was from Bad Lobenstein, in Germany. The dealer described the marbles as 'old' and 'original'. In an e-mail he told me that they had come from the German equivalent of an estate sale. Also, that they were 'found between floorboards' (always the sort of comment which makes me doubtful). Both marbles do have pontils. The latticino marble is 35mm diameter, and appears to have 1 melted pontil and 1 ground pontil. Both are small. The marble is reasonably spherical, but has one obviously flattened area (which does not coincide with either pontil). Pictures showung pontils are below: This second marble is 33mm diameter. It has 1 ground pontil, which has not quite flattened the raised point at which it was cut from the cane. I cannot see a pontil at the other end, though I can feel a slight irregularity to the touch. Both marbles are a lot less perfect than any contemporary American Marbles which I have, and I cannot see ant signature, using a 10x loupe. My eyes aren't great, I'll ask my wife or daughters to get a second opinion. All and any opinions valued. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordies Liggies Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Secong opinion received: definitely not signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Looks very contemporary from those pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoody Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Hi Steve, remembering an (German) article I read some months ago in the depth of the web I had a look to a map and found that Bad Lobenstein is not too far away from Lauscha. In Lauscha there still is glas manufacturing industry. Maybe those marbles "found between floorboards" (35mm diameter needs really big gaps between the boards to disappear by accident!) are just scrap of a production run and just outtakes for they have been of no value for the original manufacturer. Now someone found them and sells as "Dachbodenfund" on ebay. This is just a theory, not a fact. Hoody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordies Liggies Posted January 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Hi Hoody, Many thanks for your efforts on my behalf. It is greatly appreciated. 😁 I doubt that we will ever know for sure, unless something similar turns up infuture. Danke schon, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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