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Birdcages?


Steph

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What is a birdcage, in the context of marbles. There are some really famous/controversial ones, right?

Are there old ones and contemporary ones?

I've seen many allusions to them but that seems to be all.

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It seems like there are some who feel that Tom's marble may not have been authentic??

Yes.... It is authentic... There is one in the Svacina collection at the Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City, there is one in the collection of the late Beverly Brule and I believe there is another board visitor who has one... I've had 2 in hand and I'll bet lunch AND dinner that they are authentic, made as marbles and not ground-down paperweights.... Yes, 1930's is the correct date for the paperweights (I can post the book reference if necessary, I don't have it handy right now....)

Here's a couple of pictures ... I can't remember which ones are from where.... I *think* the yellow is Tom's and the multicolor is Bev's.........

post-3-1174495532_thumb.jpg

post-3-1174495545_thumb.jpg

post-3-1174495558_thumb.jpg

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No Steph, I think the original examples of both marbles and paperweights date to that period (1930's)

To my knowledge, there are NO paperweights that were ground down to look like marbles... At least, I've never seen or heard of one....

It was debated that Tom's may have been that..... Probably because Tom can be so abbrasive that most people want to find a way to slam him down..... But, I am convinced that his is authentic...

I haven't seen his in hand. But, the others that I have seen are 100% original, unground surface... They have the same surface and pontil as an old sulphide...

Tom may be irritating, but he's no fool... He knows the original surface of a marble and if he says his is the real deal, I won't question it..... His was accompanied with a 1930's dated note that sure looked authentic to me. I have a picture of it in my computer, somewhere... (Tom also knows his ephemera well.... )

It is very possible that this design has been reused in paperweights, recently (Though, I honestly don't know that...) I don't know of any marbles done recently, either....

There was an attempt in the 1930's, by a group of Europeans, to reproduce many of the better, collectible paperweight designs in China... (This is well documented in paperweight history...)

Even though the glass and workmanship quality of the 1930's Chinese pieces was far inferior to the workmanship of the original designs that they copied, it is far better than the glass paperweights coming out of China today.... I would think that a 1930's birdcage could easily be differentiated from a modern birdcage....

WAIT!! I know the answer to the next question..... NO, I don't know what original Western paperweight the birdcages were copied from, or if they were an original design........ (A serious study of paperweights might answer that question.....)

;)

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To my knowledge, there are NO paperweights that were ground down to look like marbles... At least, I've never seen or heard of one....

Quick clarification here. When you said "they are authentic, made as marbles and not ground-down paperweights", it still hadn't crossed my mind that someone might turn a literal paperweight into an orb. So, I thought you were using "ground-down" simply to stress the flat-bottomed property of paperweights.

I now see that didn't make sense in your sentence construction. That's how I was using the term though. :)

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Cool ephemera, that!

I'm not finding the allusion I thought I most specifically remembered in connection with birdcages, so maybe I'm mistaken about it, but in my memory the statement goes something like, "isn't it funny that supposedly only five were ever made and suddenly two appear for sale on eBay?"

Edited:

Here's the post I was remembering: Post #8 in the thread "Bird Cage? I don't think so...".

If only 5 were ever made, I guessed that maybe the discussion was about some small but famous series of marbles created by a contemporary glass artist.

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And so, though there wasn't a photo in the thread which said there were only 5 birdcages made, there was a photo named "ebirdcage1.jpeg", in another thread. And this other thread linked back to the thread which said only 5 birdcages were made.

This is the photo named "ebirdcage1.jpeg":

gallery_279_33_32161.jpeg

It was David's, and as he said it looks contemporary, so that reinforced my guess that folks might have been talking about some really hot but still modern marble type.

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WOW, I dunno Steph.... I don't remember the marble in the auction... Maybe Lloyd does??

But, if it's that one in the picture, we were talkin' apples an' oranges.... There was so much talk about the whole Birdcage thing, it's tough to know who referenced what....

As far as the comment of there only being 5 made??? I think that was just a pondering of Rick's.... Someone may have said, previously, something about only 5 known?? To my knowledge, there just isn't that much known about the marbles I pictured.... Based on what Lloyd said, I'd guess that we're not talkin' about contemporaries.... As far as the one in the picture??? I'm Capt. Shultzy.... "I know NOTHING!!!"

LOL ;)

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Well, you showed some old ones in this thread. And, yeah, in the Lloyd-related discussion you were talking about old marbles. I see that now. So, not to discount the general merit of input from Rick and David . . . . . . help! what emoticon should I use ... oh no!!! . . . . . . (ahem) ...

anyway, I think you've set me straight on the context here.

Thanks Sue!

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I am suprised to see the quotation marks for emphasis in that era (I can be ignorant but curious). Heck, just speaking out loud

Nice catch! I love running across these different little touches from different times.

WOW, I dunno Steph.... I don't remember the marble in the auction... Maybe Lloyd does??

But, if it's that one in the picture, we were talkin' apples an' oranges.... There was so much talk about the whole Birdcage thing, it's tough to know who referenced what....

Chinese apples: 1930's. Settled. (imveryho)

Modern oranges: Ray Laubs?

(Not able to find any definite pix but I think I'm reading that he made something known as a bird cage)

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Yep, that's the marble my son Brady sold on eBay a while back.

He got the marble years ago from Dr. Art Ward.

Doc Ward had one of the best (Read The Best ) sulphide collections I ever saw. He & Brady hunkered down in a serious trading session at one of the major marble shows. It took a while, but Brady pryed the 'Turban' & a little cash loose from Art for a sulphide that Art didn't have in his collection.

Is the marble old? - yes.

Is it a 'Birdcage'? - no.

I'm Hip,

;)

Lloyd Huffer

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Yep, that's the marble my son Brady sold on eBay a while back.

Hello Lloyd.

To which marble are you referring? The one which was at the other end of the ebay auction link in the old thread, right? Not any of the marbles pictured in this thread. (right?)

Thank you.

Steph

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I'm pretty sure Lloyd was referring to the one you pictured.......

So, this would be Brady's Turbine "Apple"

gallery_279_33_32161.jpeg

This would be Tom Reed's Birdcage "Orange"

post-3-1174624325_thumb.jpg

And, this would be Ray Laub's attempt to copy it.....

post-3-1174624575_thumb.jpg

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I'm pretty sure Lloyd was referring to the one you pictured.......

So, this would be Brady's Turbine "Apple"

gallery_279_33_32161.jpeg

Wow on the Ray Laub!

So, not wanting to harp ... just to pin it down ... this Turbine "Apple" is the one which Lloyd says is "old but not a birdcage"? That's surprising.

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The first sentence in the story mentions a marble that was being offered by Bill Cokenower for $6,500. The birdcage was that marble. Bill assured us that it was an antique and not a contemporary. I got to hold it for the picture. It looked old, and well executed. :)

Sue, did you see this picture from an article on Taunya's Round Mountain Marbles website?

birdcagefromroundmountaeh8.jpg

I couldn't find any mention of it in the article itself, but it was about the 99 Ozark show. Here's the link---

http://www.roundmountainmarbles.com/round_...ozark_marb.html

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