Handmade Non-Glass Marbles

Serious collectors of handmade non-glass marbles are few and far between. Other than having one or two examples of each type in their collections, most collectors do not want these marbles. This is no doubt because, quite frankly, most of the marbles are quite plain.

Clay and Bennington marbles were produced by the millions, in both Germany and the United States, during the late 1800's and early 1900's. They were easy and cheap to produce, not requiring the technical knowledge or skill of glass marbles. The first marbles produced in the United States were clay marbles and the first marble-related U.S. patents are for devices that mass produce clay marbles.

While clays and Benningtons are not in great demand, collectors are more interested in hand painted china marbles and agates. Some of the hand painted china marbles are very colorful and beautiful. No marble collection is complete without a sampling. Hand painted chinas can also be quite rare. Scenic chinas rival most handmade glass marbles in terms of the price for rare examples.

No marble collection is complete without a sampling of hand-cut agates either. These marbles were the choice of marble shooters for many years, because of their ability to knock glass marbles out of the ring. Many hand-cut agates exhibit exquisite and complicated natural designs. A fine collection of different hand-cut agates could be created.

Another choice of some marble players was the steelie. These were preferred by players because their density could easily knock glass marbles out of a ring. However, they were banned from tournament play. Many steelies are merely ball bearings, but some are handmade hollow spheres that required a great deal of time to make. Every collection should have at least one handmade steelie.

In reality, handmade non-glass marbles do not get much attention by marble collectors. These marbles tend to get caught in the shuffle of the pursuit for the prettier and more colorful glass marbles. However, you should take your time and look at them while building your collection. They were an important part of the game of marbles for years and some of them are actually quite attractive.

Earthenware:

Clay marbles are the most common old marble that you will find. These marbles were the easiest to produce and hundreds of thousands, probably millions, still exist. Unfortunately, clay marbles do not have nearly the eye-appeal of any other marbles and therefore are the least collectible of any marble. Clay marbles were made in both Germany and the United States. It has been reported that clay marbles were used as ballast in the keels of ships that sailed to America from Germany, and were then removed and sold in this country. On the American side, some of the earliest U.S. marble-related patents are for devices that fashion blobs of clay into round spheres, which were then fired to harden them. Clay marbles are usually found in their natural tan color, but they may also be dyed. The dyed marbles are usually found in red, blue, brown, green or yellow. Foil clays are small (usually less than 1/2" diameter) clays with a metallic coating on them. These were produced in Germany after the turn of the century and are usually found in Mosaic games.

Crockery marbles are a type of clay marble that is made from two or three different colors of clay. Some are merely opaque white or off-white marbles that were fired at a higher temperature than clays, making them somewhat denser. There are also some lined crockery that are opaque white with thin blue and/or green swirls mixed in.

Bennington marbles are a type of glazed clay marble. They are not very dense. The marbles are fired clay with a salt glaze on them. Benningtons are readily identifiable by both their coloring and the little 'eyes' that they have on them. These are spots where the marbles were touching each other while they were being fired, resulting in those spots being uncolored and unglazed. The term 'bennington' is actually a misnomer. There is no evidence that they were ever made in Bennington, Vermont, or that they have any lineage to the Bennington pottery that they resemble and from which they get their name. It appears that all Bennington marbles were imported from Germany.

Stoneware marbles are a dense, fired clay marble with salt glaze on them. These marbles are made in the same manner as salt-glazed stoneware crocks and jugs and may very well have been made by the same makers. The marbles have similar blue patterns on them. Usually the patterns are sponge ware type or splatter ware type, or else they tend to be bands encircling the equator.

China marbles are marbles that are made with a very dense white clay and then fired at a very high temperature. This produces a much heavier marble, for the size, than a clay or crockery marble. Most chinas are painted. Some of the decorations can be quite intricate. Many of the chinas that you will find are glazed as well. In order of rarity, painted chinas have the following patterns: Lines on one axis, helix on pole or poles, intersecting lines, crows feet, bulls eyes, simple flowers, donut hole flowers, rose , intricate rose, scenic designs . Some hand painted chinas have been found with gold-colored bulls eyes.

Carpet balls are glazed, crockery spheres that are used in a game similar to bocce. Most carpet balls are believed to have been made in England or Scotland, where the game was very popular. Most carpet balls are in the 3" to 3-1/2" range. They have varying designs painted on them. Some of the designs (from most common to least common) are: Lined, intersecting lines-single color, intersecting lines-multiple colors, crown and thistle, flower, and mochaware. Mochaware tend to be slightly smaller. There is a small sized (about 2-1/4") opaque white ball that is called the jack. This was the target ball. Sometimes, the name of a store is printed on them. Carpet balls have been extensively reproduced in the past few years.

Other Non-Glass Material:

Agate is a colored variety of quartz that was hand-ground into marbles. They were a favorite of many marble players, especially as shooters. This is because agates are denser than other marbles. This made it easier to knock an opponent’s marble out of the ring. Hand-cut agates are generally found in banded and carnelian varieties. The banded varieties have distinct concentric rings on the sphere. Carnelians are a more uniform brownish-red color. Many agate marbles have subsurface moons because of their extensive use as shooters. There are many machine-ground agates available. These are modern. Hand-cut agates have tiny facets on the surface. You can see the light dance on the surface if you look closely at the surface while turning the marble. There are also dyed agates available. Some of these are older hand cuts and some are modern. A chemical process is used to accentuate the brightness of the natural colors. Usually they are found in green, blue and black and occasionally in yellow.

There are many mineral spheres available. Most of these are not true marbles, but merely minerals in the spherical shape. Almost all are modern. Some marble collectors add these to their collections because they display well. However, most of these were never intended to be used to play the game of marbles, although some were produced to be used in solitaire-type games.

The only mineral, except agate, that is known to have been used to produce marbles in any significant quantity is limestone. This is a white or off-white, fairly dense mineral. They were produced extensively in Germany and used there, as well as the United States, during the late 1700s to the early 1900s.

Wooden marbles can be found in either their natural color or dyed. They were probably not used in marble playing because they are not very dense, and therefore not very effective for shooting or targets. They are not collectible today.

Marble collectors come across a number of steel marbles in their hunting. Most of these are solid ball bearings. These have no real value to marble collectors. However, there are some handmade steelies available. These are hollow steel spheres that were made by hand. They can be identified by their lightness and by the "X" on one end where the open end was folded.