Purple Brick or Slag?

[Ric]

Bottom line . . . in the case of the OP marble, onyx = slag and vice versa. I just didn't want the Steven to get the idea that his marble was not a slag.

[Steph]

11 minutes ago, Ric said:

Bottom line . . . in the case of the OP marble, onyx = slag and vice versa. I just didn't want the Steven to get the idea that his marble was not a slag.

Ah, of course. 

I just  wanted Steven to realize his beautiful slag had a much classier name once upon a time.   

[Ric]

15 minutes ago, Steph said:

I just  wanted Steven to realize his beautiful slag had a much classier name once upon a time.   

I figured . . . 🙂

[akroorka]

11 hours ago, StevenJustSteven said:

Maybe a better way to describe a marble such as this is to consider it a blended slag? I think that may be what is throwing me off. Though I am sure a  marble with an opaque white base and transparent color wouldn't be considered a slag but where is the line drawn. When does a slag start to have enough white that it crosses over the line from being transparent colored base with opaque white swirls to an opaque white base with transparent swirls? 

This may be hard to imagine StevenJustSteven,
--but yours has a transparent base glass--the white is dominate for sure in yours--but the base glass was intended to be transparent dominant.
The unintended dominate white is what make this one so special.
Slags vs swirls is always a good argument—but the slag gurus here have yours penned right.
It is a slag—a very, very nice one—top shelf for sure.

Slags never cross over to being blended or to becoming swirls--they are just slags some are better than others.
Marble—On!!

[Jeff54]

18 minutes ago, Ric said:

It's beat to a pulp, but I always thought this was a Black Brick - am I wrong?

I completely agree, no oxblood = no Brick, at least IMO. As far as I know, only one of the six named "bricks" that Chad showed has any. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Been too busy to reply, but, this is my thoughts here.

Oh heck, I didn't think I would need to qualify every variation of red that's in a brick., I mean, I don't have photos to illustrate.

   I have a Mint 5/8" just about like yours and a couple of others I found in the wild, kind of a matched pair that look like factory rejects Maybe MFC or Akro, IDK for sure who.  I mean, ever since all those H-G marbles got dug-up at Akro, I do not believe MFC made them. 

    Add in all those Black Bricks that are very brown under bright light, From Akro Digs while MFC was known for perfection. Those From the Akro digs look more like burnt glass or something for being so dark red. If you don't light them up the red inside is hard to see. 

Also have a few red/white that are a little chippy,. They resemble used red bricks. with and without darker reds an some almost pink too.

    I agree with Bob Block's interpretation  regarding purple brick VS  Oxbood: "

"The most popular M.F. Christensen & Son Company marble is the Brick. It was called the “American Cornelian” by the company." 

The marble is a combination of oxblood-red and either opaque white, opaque black or both. The common name for the Brick derives from the fact that the marble looks like a piece of brick when it is scuffed up. Each marble is unique in its coloring and pattern. The oxblood-red with black are a little rarer than the oxblood-red with white.

 

The most highly sought after examples have very well-defined “9”s and tails. Many examples do not have “9”s at all and some collectors believe that these are either very late examples or perhaps marbles that were made later by the Akro Agate Company.

 

There are also some very early examples that are transitionals and have a pontil. These are German and not M.F. Christensen.

The marble is a combination of oxblood-red and either opaque white, opaque black or both. The common name for the Brick derives from the fact that the marble looks like a piece of brick when it is scuffed up. Each marble is unique in its coloring and pattern. The oxblood-red with black are a little rarer than the oxblood-red with white.

The most highly sought after examples have very well-defined “9”s and tails. Many examples do not have “9”s at all and some collectors believe that these are either very late examples or perhaps marbles that were made later by the Akro Agate Company.

There are also some very early examples that are transitionals and have a pontil. These are German and not M.F. Christensen."

Marbles by M.F. Christensen and Son Company (marblecollecting.com)

[StevenJustSteven]

On 11/29/2023 at 6:34 AM, Ric said:

I understand your thinking but it's pretty esoteric for cheap kid's toys. It's probably better to think about base glass and striping glass rather than opaque and transparent glass. Slags and transparent swirls have transparent base glass and opaque striping glass, regardless of their proportions.

And nice (recent) slag too. Does it react to UV?

Word of the day esoteric. I like it. Also good information concerning slags and transparent swirls. I agree with your statement and thank you for offering it. Truely. 
I want to ensure I know which recent slag you are referring to. The mint green one I assume? I would say no it doesn’t reacts to UV or atleast not very brightly or obviously. Whenever I put a 395 on it, it has a very mild blue glow. Would could simply just be because of the purple light being shown on it. Taking a decent photo that really illustrates what I’m seeing is proving to be difficult. I can’t seem to find my 365 as I would be curious as to how it reacts to it. Here are a very photos from a 195.