Surprise While Detecting - A Clay Marble?

[sierraipa]

I was pretty psyched today when I found my first wheat penny, but I was puzzled when I pulled this out of a hole while digging for a coin. It looks like a marble, but it is made of clay or stone. It feels like clay to me. It has a diameter of 0.715, and it is perfectly spherical. It's about the size of a penny in diameter as seen in the photos. There is a design drawn or painted on as well. I found it under a very old oak tree along a roadway that has been in existence since at least 1820, but probably a good deal longer.

Anybody have any thoughts on this? Date or origin?

HH

 

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[kuger]

Thats a really nice antique clay marble

 

[sierraipa]

Thanks for the ID, kuger. I am poking around some sites and ebay. It doesn't look like they are worth a whole lot, but I think it sure is cool. It always means more when you can put an item in context, with your local history especially. I wasn't planning an selling it anyway

 

[Jess]

Those are called "China" marbles, they are old. Made of porcelain, a general way of telling age on them, if it is unglazed they usually date from 1860 and earlier; if it is glazed , it is made after 1890. They originated in Germany but were also believed to be made in Indiana starting in the 1840s. Hope that helps a little

-Jessica

 

[sierraipa]

Thanks, Jessica. That's the conclusion I came to as well after doing some searching online, but it really helps to have someone in the know confirm it. It is not glazed. So, I guess it is prior to 1860. That makes sense based on the location and the history. You don't happen to know the time frame of when they started being made, do you? It would be nice to be able to bracket the date. I'll keep looking too.

 

[Jess]

That was the extent of my knowledge on Chinas, and that information I got from a dear friend of mine.
I do collect marbles, but only from the Akro Agate company, you can ask me anything about those, lol
-Jessica

 

[sierraipa]

I found a good archaeological paper on 19th century marbles. It would indicate that these China marbles that were not glazed and with this specific pattern would have dated between 1850 and 1860. So, no need for anyone to hunt for more info unless you happen have it off the top of your head or you feel that I have made an error. Thanks to everyone for helping out. This forum is fantastic.

HH

 

[bingbong]

interesting because they come up in the UK and they look the same !

wonder if they were chinese exports ??

 

[gunsil]

Hi, I think your marble is a glazed marble, most of the unglazed ones are just colored, with no design. The glaze gets worn with use and the finish gets more like a matte finish rather than the more shiny glaze. It's a nice find though.

 

[kevo rn]

Valuable or not, these are neat to find! Good job

 

[sierraipa]

bingbong, nearly all of these are of German origin during the 19th century. So, it would totally make sense that you are seeing them in the UK. They were imported en mass into the US during this time frame.

gunsil, early on, apparently there was a period where these designs were being added to the marbles before the glazing began. So, they definitely do exist with the design and no glazing. And, I can't see a hint of glazing at all on the one that I found this morning.

I have been reading this archaeology paper that describes a lot of this. It seems to be spot on. I am happy to post a link for anyone that is interested. Is this allowed via forum rules? I would think so as it is not advertising or anything. I'll give it a go. Let me know if I need to take it down.

http://www.sha.org/CF_webservice/servePDFHTML.cfm?fileName=24-2-10.pdf

 

[Tony in Virginia]

I 've found quite a few clay marbles in confederate camps I've had the pleasure to hunt. Great finds, you might want to go back around that tree.