Wednesday, December 31, 2014

What are some of the different types of antique marbles?


Antique marbles are like any other area of collecting—there are quite a few different varieties that you can find and collect.  They also have some interesting pattern names that you will quickly hear about when you dive into collecting (or selling) these items.

The handmade items that are made from the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s are the ones that are sought out by collectors, which are when these patterns featured here are from.

The first pattern is called a “Sulphide.”  This one is a glass marble that has a chalk item in the center.  There have been several found with both crystal and colored glass.  The chalk piece runs a wide swath that covers figural (more often than not animals, but human figures have been found), numbers, and even floral motifs.

 

The next thing that you will see is a marble called a “ribbon core.”  These have a couple of different variations in this pattern.  There are latticino cores and Lutz cores to name just two of them.



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*photo courtesy of wiki-collecting.com

Latticino core marbles have a lattice work type of center and ribbons of colored glass around this core.  Lutz cores have a solid ribbon at the center, with gold flakes embedded within.  Both types of marbles come in a wide range of colors both on the core and on the outer glass part as well.

The next marble that you will see is called a clay marble.  This type of marble is common (also known as a “commie”), and can be found with a wide variety of glazes.  Clay marbles really started to take off here in America in 1884 when The Akron Toy Company started to produce them (before then they were imported from Germany).




There’s quite a few different more antique marbles out there to be found.  What kinds have you run across?

Friday, December 26, 2014

What to do with an Etsy Gift Card



Did Santa leave an Etsy Gift Card for you this year?  I happen to accept them, and I’d like to invite you to scroll through my items in my Wisdom Lane store on Etsy.

Here are some great highlights from my store:


Eisenberg earrings



Austrian Bouillon Cups

Lot Of 2 China Ceramic Porcelain Antique Bouillon Cups And Saucers Royal Vienna Austria Beehive Mark Gold Guild 1850 to 1864 
 

Retro clothing like this fantastic dress



Jewelry like this great set


Purses like this wonderful beaded variety


This killer Tea-for-two set


 Vintage Tea For Two Set Art Deco Silverplate Teapot And Lot of 2 Czechoslovakian Cups And Saucers Marked Union K 

 Or even this Lady Chintz Biscuit Jar

Vintage 1800s Sandlandware Lady Chintz Pottery Biscuit Jar Or Barrel With Metal Lid And Handle 


As you scroll through the shop, you will find numerous good buys on additional items.  You can click on the pictures above to see the items in my Etsy shop.

To see the rest of the goodies, you can see them here.

Have a happiest of New Year’s from Wisdom Lane!