Canal Fulton Glassworks - Handmade glass marbles by Brian Graham

Glass Marbles - Handmade by Brian Graham

My inspiration: The James Harvey Leighton tradition of glass marble making.

In 1890, James Harvey Leighton of Akron, Ohio, was granted a US Patent to manufacture the first glass marbles made in the United States . In the spirit of his creations, I offer these modern examples that are 100% faithful to the originals in execution and process of manufacture. A common feature seen on each of these marbles is a melted pontil. This feature was a central part of J.H. Leighton's patent - US Patent number 462,083. Other features seen on many of these examples are a "9", "6" or looping “S” pattern, comma pattern, loops at the pontil, or a tail that wraps around the marble. These are all diagnostic traits of the hand gathering process. The glass mixing process is similar to the method used by David Challinor in creating his "Mosaic Glass". Collectors refer to marbles like this as a slag, transitional, imitation onyx, Leighton, Navarre, etc.. The hand gathering process was later utilized for machine made marble manufacture by the M.F. Christensen & Son Company, the Akro Agate Company, the Peltier Glass Co., and The Christensen Agate Company.

The marbles that I make are all finished off with a melted pontil. Expect the marbles to show ripples and texture around the pontil area, surface striations between the colors that can be felt with your finger, small unbroken bubbles, small fire polished blowouts, and the occasional dimple or crease. My marbles are not perfectly round. I strive to make the best 'spheres' possible - some are better then others. They pretty much mirror the range of variation that is found in old handmade glass marbles. If you are looking for a perfectly round and sparkling fire polished sphere, then these are NOT the marbles for you. Machines make perfect things - humans make things that show the mark of the maker's hand. They will be in "as made condition".

All of my marbles are hand-gathered one at a time from a glass furnace. This process assures that each marble is unique and truly one of a kind. Each gather of glass is a random act. While I can choose the colors of glass that get put into the melting furnace, I cannot determine the final resulting mix of colors, blending or design patterns that appear on my marbles. This individual uniqueness is the central feature of the hand-gathered process of making marbles - you are never exactly sure what you will end up with.

The complete manufacturing cycle takes about 24 hours. I use a mix of modern recycled glass and personally batched colors like oxblood to make my marbles. I do not use old marble factory cullet or broken marble fragments in my work and I never will - so please don't ask.

The making of a hand gathered glass marble

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