What is the Holy Grail of hand mades ????

[Fire1981]

Game on ! I know the Bird Cage is one of them. Tom Reed had one with a yellow cage and a green base. I think there's one call a Naked Razor. So ! Let's go 🔥

RAR

[Chad G.]

LINK ::   https://rarest.org/collectibles/most-expensive-marbles-ever-sold

LINK ::  https://rarest.org/stuff/marbles

 

Birdcage came in 8th

 

[YasudaCollector]

Man! Has anybody ever seen one of the Chinese birdcage marbles? 

 

It almost reminds me of the glass used in some older Chinese paperweights (the sandy color base glass with bright primary color designs). 

[Alan]

11 hours ago, YasudaCollector said:

Man! Has anybody ever seen one of the Chinese birdcage marbles? 

 

It almost reminds me of the glass used in some older Chinese paperweights (the sandy color base glass with bright primary color designs). 

At one time, Bill Cokenhauer had two for sale at Ohio and other shows.  I think they sold after quite a while and later Bill had a third one.  IMO they are far more paperweights than they are marbles.  Kids marbles aren't made in such large sizes.  The technique is also paperweight.

[YasudaCollector]

Wow! That's quite a few considering how rare they are. What would they have been used for though? 🤔 I've heard the Chinese paperweight makers also made aquarium ornaments too. 

[Ric]

On 5/8/2024 at 10:51 PM, YasudaCollector said:

. . . I've heard the Chinese paperweight makers also made aquarium ornaments too. 

I have seen Chinese "Birds in Fire Tree" sulfide figures in glass objects of various shapes that were probably made as paperweights or aquarium ornaments. I have also seen "marbles" that had been made by cutting and grinding those objects into spheres. In addition, I have seen some spheres that I think may have actually been produced as marbles, since they have no flat spot and show a pontil much like a typical German sulfide. Although, I suppose they too could have been shaped from a much more common paperweight/aquarium piece by a skilled glass worker.

Here are examples of what I am referring to. This sphere was most certainly ground from another object. I have only seen one sphere with a pontil for sale in the past 25 years or so and I am still mad at myself for not purchasing it.

 

[Alan]

52 minutes ago, Ric said:

I have seen Chinese "Birds in Fire Tree" sulfide figures in glass objects of various shapes that were probably made as paperweights or aquarium ornaments. I have also seen "marbles" that had been made by cutting and grinding those objects into spheres. In addition, I have seen some spheres that I think may have actually been produced as marbles, since they have no flat spot and show a pontil much like a typical German sulfide. Although, I suppose they too could have been shaped from a much more common paperweight/aquarium piece by a skilled glass worker.

Here are examples of what I am referring to. This sphere was most certainly ground from another object. I have only seen one sphere with a pontil for sale in the past 25 years or so and I am still mad at myself for not purchasing it.

 

The only way to make a glass piece with that detail is a torch paperweight technique.  All cane attachment points can be cold-worked (polished) away.

Cane-cut marbles are an entirely different method than paperweight technique.

[Ric]

5 minutes ago, Alan said:

The only way to make a glass piece with that detail is a torch paperweight technique.  All cane attachment points can be cold-worked (polished) away.

I appreciate this comment Alan. You should know that I am essentially clueless when it comes to the actual techniques used to make such objects.

Would you please elaborate a little on the "torch paperweight technique"? I imagine it would be used to produce the grass and tree? Just a little more explanation would be very helpful.

One of the things that I find pretty amazing is how the "sulfide" birds are positioned on the branches. I imagine the tree was produced when they were placing the birds, perhaps by using an orange glass rod to push them into the clear gob - sort of like the figures in Germans were placed using a metal rod?

I really have no idea how this was done, any thoughts you could provide would really be appreciated.

[Alan]

(Unfortunately, I have chosen to remove this historical content due to unchecked behaviors by others on this board.  My apologies to those who will not benefit from it in the future.)

 

 

 

 

 

[Ric]

Excellent, Alan. thank you very much. I appreciate the time you took to post this. The Stankard pieces are amazing - the detail is just incredible. So just one more quick question and I promise I'll leave you alone (at least for a while). Would the method used to make German sulfide marbles also be considered a "torch paperweight technique"? My guess is "yes".

[Alan]

On 5/29/2024 at 7:13 AM, Ric said:

Excellent, Alan. thank you very much. I appreciate the time you took to post this. The Stankard pieces are amazing - the detail is just incredible. So just one more quick question and I promise I'll leave you alone (at least for a while). Would the method used to make German sulfide marbles also be considered a "torch paperweight technique"? My guess is "yes".

(Unfortunately, I have chosen to remove this technical content due to unchecked behaviors by others on this board.  My apologies to those who will not benefit from it in the future.)

[Ric]

4 hours ago, Alan said:

Sulphides were a modified cane-based technique . . .

Thanks again, Alan! Am I understanding correctly - that canes were used in the production of German sulfides? I always imagined a gob gathered from a furnace.

[Alan]

On 5/29/2024 at 2:04 PM, Ric said:

Thanks again, Alan! Am I understanding correctly - that canes were used in the production of German sulfides? I always imagined a gob gathered from a furnace.

(Unfortunately, I have chosen to remove this technical content due to unchecked behaviors by others on this board.  My apologies to those who will not benefit from it in the future.)

[Ric]

2 minutes ago, Alan said:

It is a small gather from the furnace on the end of a punty . . .

Gotcha. Thanks again for taking the time to enlighten me!