Paul Baumann - Collecting Antique Marbles: Identification and Price Guide

4TH EDITION

COLLECTING

Antique
Marbles

Identification and Price Guide

PAUL BAUMANN

2004 Paul Baumann
Published by

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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2004093864

ISBN: 0-87349-822-4
eISBN: 9-781-4402-2523-9

Designed by Sandy Kent
Edited by Dan Brownell

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

by Paul Baumann

by Roger Matile & Paul Baumann

Acknowledgments

Once again, I need to thank a great many people for making this marble book possible. At the end of this book is a list crediting those collectors who loaned marbles for the plates in this book. Collectors with the fortitude to do this include Bud Braunlich, Hansel deSousa, Roger and Claudia Hardy, Dave Johnson, Elliot Pincus, Mark Thompson, Danny Turner, Tony and Norma Turner, and Mike Zirneski. An especially large thanks goes to Bert Cohen for information on marble history, games, and reproductions; Brian Estepp for the history of the Christensen Agate Co., advice on machine-made subgroups, and help with the price guide; and Lloyd Huffer for sulphide pictures and pricing information.

Two other individuals also had a major impact on my books: Mr. M. G. (Fred) Wright and Beverly Brule. Fred had done extensive research on marble history and production methods beginning in the 1960s before my first book was published. He invited me to visit him and see his excellent collection, and generously provided me with his files and with the fantastic stills from the World War I-era movie of German handmade marbles being produced. Freds early surveys on sulphide rarity are also used in that section of the book. Beverly was a collector, dealer, and a force for integrity and kindness in the marble world. She had helped me many times over the years in determining patterns and rarity. Her passing recently leaves a void that is hard to fill.

A number of institutions and professionals also supplied me with information. History on the old German glass marbles was provided in part by Museum fur Glaskunst in Lauscha and the Deutches Spielzeugmuseum in Sonneberg, both in the province of Thuringen, Germany. I am also indebted to the Ohio Historical Society, particularly to Martha Potter Otto in Columbus, Ohio, and to Dr. Mike Chipperfield of the Ohio State University Art Department. A big thanks to the Navarre-Bethlehem Township Historical Society for its tour. Thanks are due once again to glass artist Mark Mathews, who allowed us to photograph him in his studio. A tip of the hat also to Don Weddle, who supplied me with the Leighton family history, and to Mike Cohill, B. Alan Basinet, Chris Cooper, Del Morgan, and Captain Dan Berg for providing information on shipwrecks, Lauscha companies, and hand-gathered marbles.

I also want to acknowledge Jim King of Royal Images for the marble photography and for the Mark Mathews sequence; and Kandis Elliot of the Institute of Implied Science for the computer-generated electronic paintings created from the World War I-era movie of marble manufacture in Germany.

Also, this book was built on the foundation of information supplied for my first two editions. Among those whose information is still as useful today as it was 10 or 30 years ago are Jeff Carskadden, Dick Davidson, Jim Davis, Earl Fosnaught, Craig Gamache, Meta E. Gundersen, Steve Hartman, J. E. McGuire, the Stephan Pfnur family, and Larry Prince.

Paul Baumann

The idea of undertaking an in-depth study of carpet bowls was casually discussed by the authors during a 1993 fishing trip, when we realized no comprehensive book on the subject had been written. Since so little information existed locally, we had to look farther afieldmuch farther. Thanks to the modern miracle of computer networking, namely the U.K. Forum on the CompuServeInformation Service, we were able to locate correspondents in Scotland and England who helped us begin our quest. The end result of that first tentative beginning is now in your hands.

We could not have completed the carpet bowl section without the help of many people, both here in the United States, and in Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, and Tasmania. In particular, we thank the kind staffs of the York Castle Museum, particularly the museums former assistant keeper of decorative arts, Fiona Hyde, who paved the way for us to photograph the museums carpet bowl collection; the Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery, where Nick Dolan, keeper of applied art, gave us some valuable tips; the Kirkcaldy District Museum; the Glasgow Museums; Sothebys; and especially the Fife Folk Museum and one of the museums dedicated former board members and officers, Mrs. Margaret Mercer (of whom you will hear much more later on).

Thanks also to Mr. Peter Cairns, carpet bowl collector extraordinaire of Rosser, Manitoba, Canada; Mr. Len Baker, of Kingswood, South Australia; Mr. Ken MacRae of the venerable Glasgow bowls firm of Thomas Taylor (Bowls), Ltd., who was most helpful in offering sources and tips; Mr. C. T. C. Jaques, managing director of John Jaques & Son, Ltd.; Bruce R. Hensell, managing director of Henselite (Australia) Pty., Ltd., of North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Al Mewett, executive officer of Bowls Australia, Inc.; the Scottish Indoor Bowling Association; the British Ceramics Confederation; and Pete Hall in London, who helped us, via CompuServe, track down at least two valuable sources.

Thanks to the Balmullo Bowls Club in Balmullo, Fife, Scotland, for hosting one of the authors on a beautiful June evening. Lawn bowls is a wonderful sport, and its very restful to watch the teams compete on their beautiful level green while sipping a wee dram.

Special thanks to the late Mr. Henry Kelly, former president of the Scottish Pottery Society, who was one of the worlds foremost experts on Scottish sponge-printed pottery, as well as an excellent host, cook, and guide to the pottery sites in Glasgow. Enjoying tea and treacle biscuits during a beautiful sunny June morning on the shore of Loch Lomond (which, as the song contends, really is bonny) was a particularly nice treat. The members of the Scottish Pottery Society also helped in locating arcane bits of information essential to our research.

Especially warm thanks also to Ian Smith of Balmullo, Fife, Scotland. Ian was not only a great help in researching this book, but he and his wife, Sue, and sons Stuart and Robert also became good friends who took time to escort us around Fife while introducing us to the glories of haggis, real ale, and bowls. Finally, thank you to Sue Matile and Denise Baumann, our loving and understanding (if somewhat bemused) wives, who supported the annual fishing trips that resulted in this volume and who provided the encouragement and help to research it and finish it.