All knowledge degenerates into probability. — David Hume [1]
A Little Backstory
We have a few Victorian sulfides in our collection and we recently posted Contemporary Figural Marbles in this eMagazine. Check that post for some background on sulfides. In 2006 we first asked ourselves the question “Were sulfide marbles made in the United States during the Victorian Period (ca. 1837 – 1901)?” If so, where, by whom, and what types of tools? And how about glass equipment, and glass, to include glass canes and tubes, were available to make the marbles? What about the little things inside—portraits, watches, numbers, and animals—were they made in the States too? If so, by whom?
We asked ourselves these same questions in 2006. We bought an old odd marble with what appeared to be a pontil and a core! This core was apparently not glass. It appears that this is a sulfide which was never finished or is some type experimental marble.
Just How Deep are Rabbit Holes?
They can be about ten feet deep. But we often go much deeper down a hole in our marble history research. Check Chapter Five Sex, Sparkles, and Stop Signs in our book The Secret Life of Marbles Their History and Mystery if you should doubt us!
By 2006 we knew about J.H. Leighton (James Harvey or “Harry”). He was born ca. 1849 and died in 1923 possibly of consumption (tuberculosis). We knew of Leighton’s work in Akron, Ohio, and his United States Patent 462083 (27 October 1891) for glass “balls”..
This led to the first mass-produced toy marbles in the United States. Also, we had read a great deal about transitional and “Leighton transitional” marbles.
We were confident that the marble we were researching was not some type machine-handmade glass marble. This led us on an exhaustive search on the Internet, in our references, and via email and telephone to try and find any examples of “American sulfide” marbles. Our little marble appeared to have a figural inside. We called these little figures inside the clear glass marbles “figurals” in our post Contemporary Figural Marbles so will stay with that nomenclature.
But, the marble looked like no other sulfide that we had in our collection or any we had ever seen. We could make neither fish nor fowl of it. Eventually, we decided that the little marble was neither as unusual nor as exotic as we first thought. On the other hand, we were left with a boatload of questions about American Sulfides.
Who made What, Where?
We have always considered Everett Grist’s Antique & Collectible Marbles…3rd Ed. and Paul Baumann’s Collecting Antique Marbles Identification and Price Guide, 4th Ed. as our go to sources of information on all types of sulfide marbles.
Our research brought us to Baumann (page 97). “Sulphide marbles have long been rumored to have been produced in England or the United States. Both production sites are possible and even probable. The Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing Company has been reported to have produced sulphides during its less than 20 months in operation in 1880, 1881, and 1882…. ” [2] John C. Schepley echos Baumann: Glass sulfide marbles “…imbedded with images of animals, numerals, and portraits—are coveted by all serious collectors. Sulfides were primarily made in Germany during the 19th Century, but also in the U.S. and England. One of the most valuable sulfides features the bust of James Garfield and his running mate, Chester A. Arthur, in their quest for the 1881 U.S. presidency [3]
Unfortunately, neither Baumann nor Shepley tells us who “rumored” about sulphides in Iowa and neither gives us a clue as to where we can go to see such marbles. So by 2013 we were even more curious.
We learned from Marble Alan’s Encyclopedia Marble Reference (PDF) Archive [4] that Leighton’s family had been in the glass business for at least three generations by the early 1880s. And Leighton, who came to Iowa City from Keota, Iowa, where he was a glass blower at Hobbs, Brockunier & Co., “…first produced marbles at the Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing Company between 1880 – 1882.”
Where in the World is Iowa City?
We had never heard of marbles made at Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing Company (which we will call simply ICG). Iowa City, which is in eastern Iowa and on the Iowa River, seems very warm and traditional with an All-American Main Street. The City dates to 1837 and it is the home of the University of Iowa and the county seat of Johnson County.
In July 2013 our research lead us to the Muscatine Art Center in Muscatine, Iowa. The Muscatine Art Center has the largest collection of ICG glass in the state but they do not have a single marble! Staff at the Museum [5] emailed: “ICG marbles are next to impossible to identify. The only known ICG marbles that are considered ‘verifiable’ came with a full provenance.”
In an email p.s. the staffer noted: “My collector said that James Leighton (ICG marblemaker) may have written a booklet about the marbles he made [at ICG]. I have NEVER seen it.” We had never heard of such a book, either before this email or since.
Iowa City Glass Marbles
Finally, in the Muscatine email, we learned about the book Iowa City Glass by Miriam Righter, NP, np, ©1981 by Dr. J.W. Carberry. The book was first published in 1963. Ms. Righter has pulled together a commendable publication about complicated resources in her book from official incorporation records, catalogs, titles, and other official records. We also know that the author dug at the site of the ill-fated plant and that she found shards of pattern glass.
But the most judicious thing about the book, for us, is that Ms. Righter spoke to and recorded information from direct descendants of the founders and workers at the ICG. Of course, many of their descendants still live in Iowa City and Johnson County. It is now simple for us. If the direct descendant of ICG participants allowed Ms. Righter to photograph their table ware or marbles, and if they told her that this glass was made at ICG, and that it comes from within the family, then this information comes with all the provenance needed.
Beautiful marbles, aren’t they?
We would love to have some in our collection! If you can find a copy of Miriam Righter’s book, then you can see that she has more marble pictures in Plate 6, page 38, and Plate 34 on page 52. Her plates are in black and white. We regret that we do not know of an online source for her book. What is your first impression of these marbles? They look German to us. What about to you? Most of the marbles shown in Plate 6 look like German solid core swirls with ribbons. And the gorgeous marble in Plate 34 is an Onionskin like the one in Grist on page 28! And yet we know for a fact that they are American!
Seeing the marbles for the first time made us wonder exactly what we expected American Victorian hand-made marbles to look like. In the photograph above, some of the marbles appear to have tiny copper flakes, goldstone or Lutz. Many questions remain: where did the glass cane come from to make the marbles? Did the workers have glass scissors like those invented in Laschau, Germany? Who exactly at ICG made the marbles? Are these some of the marbles which are reported on good authority to have been made by Leighton?
But What About IGC Sulfide Marbles?
We wish we could say with 100% certainty that, along with the swirls and onionskin, sulfides were made in Iowa. So far we can’t. All we can do is echo David Hume. There is an irrefutable probability that they did. We don’t believe that Miriam Righter has a photograph of a sulfide although the marble to the far right in Plate 6 may well be a sulfide.
It certainly is no kind of swirl that we have ever seen. But then, again, it doesn’t look like any sulfide marble we have ever seen, either! So, after studying everything we could find about IGC, we turned to the birthplace of the sulfide marble: Laschau, Germany. We emailed the Museum für Glaskunst Lauscha and we were referred to Dr. Gerhard Greiner-Bär.
In 2019 Dr. Greiner-Bär wrote the exceptional Lauschaer Glasmärbel und die Welt der Murmeln. He was born and still lives in Laschau and he has over 50 years in the glass industry. But most incredible of all, he is a 14th generation direct descendant of a co-founder of Lauscha: Hans Griener (Schwabenhaus)!
In February 2022 Dr. Greiner-Bär emailed us: “In the USA, attempts were made to recreate these sulphite marbles at the company “Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing Co.”, which, however, only existed for almost 2 years (1880 to 1882).” Translated from the German and italics added.
We had written him specifically about one of the Garfield sulfide marbles which we had seen online, and he noted that he could not be certain where it was made but that it “very possibly” originated in one of the four Lauscha glassworks: Seppenhütte by Elias Greiner Vetter’s son, Schlotfegerhütte, Kühnertshütte or Eugenshütte. We agree.
Trouble in Iowa City
We have not gone into detail about all the things happening at ICG in its roughly 15 months of operation. If you are interested, read Miriam Righter’s fascinating book. She writes that it is apparent that ICG “…was not a quality product. Quite possibly, it was never intended to be anything more than it was — a cheap grade of glassware that would meet the demands of a rural and small-town markets….” It was sold in quantity and for a low price (page 21).
The history of ICG reads like a “wild-west” fantasy, but it was all too real. There are reports that many of the 150 or so workers came from the East and some were sent by competing glass houses as saboteurs to cause ICG to fail. Workers were a “…rough lot who frequented a tavern…” and drunken brawls were common . [7]. And this does not even consider the stories of exploding glass pattern ware!
To Conclude: American Sulfide Marbles?
The situation at IGC was heartbreaking. Money was invested and then lost; lives were changed for the worse; and the venture, while short-lived, still sends reverberations throughout Johnson County. We cannot imagine that it was the environment needed for the creation of detailed artwork found in most Victorian sulfide figures.
A Long Look Back to Lauscha
We have long believed that the little figures themselves are the true artwork of sulfide marbles. We also know that most of these were made in some type mold. So, again, we turned to Dr. Greiner-Bär. He wrote this: “Experiments in the production of sulfides began in the Lauscha glassworks around 1860. It took a long time before marbles of this kind were available.” A body of knowledge and work had to be built up and it took some time before the venture could be cost effective.
“One began,” Dr. Greiner-Bär continues, “with carved figures from slate, which is available around Lauscha. [The region] also had good slate cutters who made molds for the Christmas tree decoration industry. In the end, however, this was too expensive, so that people relied on porcelain figurines, since this industry was in Lauscha and surroundings. But even this did not prove suitable for mass production.” Again, costs were prohibitive.
When did mass production of sulfide marbles begin?
“Fired clay was then used, all with the proviso that the linear expansion values between the glass and the figures had to match within certain limits, so that the occurring tensions did not cause the marble to burst. The mass production [of] the sulfide began early in 1865.” Our translation and apologies to Dr. Greiner-Bär for any misinterpretation on our part.
Dr. Greiner-Bär, in a recent and comprehensive article about the creation of glass Christmas tree ornaments and decorations in Lausch, provides insight which we can apply to the sulfide figures in marbles. “The glassblowers did not create their own molds; these were custom made by mold specialists….These were guarded as they were costly to produce….” [8]
What about the Molds?
We can understand the costs involved in the development of the molds for the figures in sulfide marbles. Sometimes the glassblowers used the same molds for many years.
Workers themselves owned many of the molds which IGC used for their table ware. Did they also bring molds for the figures? And did they also bring canes to make marbles and the glass canes shown in Righter in Plates 34 – 35 (now in the The Muscatine Art Center) on page 53?
We cannot imagine when work on marbles of any sort took place at IGC and we sincerely doubt that workers carved brand new American molds such as those needed for a simple Thomas Jefferson, or the “Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind!
Perhaps American sulfides were made from German molds. We hold onto probability. Sulfide marbles were probably made in Iowa. We would love to see one. Are they tucked away in dusty attics in Johnson County or in the glass cabinet with the family’s other glassware?
Does anyone visiting this eMagazine have an IGC sulfide? Well, you know where to send a photograph! And if you know of one in a museum, please let us know where it is! If we could get the amount of provenance needed for the State Historical Society of Iowa, who gave us permission to use the picture of the ICG Swirls, or the level of attribution which Righter uses, then we would conclude with certainty that sulfide marbles were made in Victorian America.
Let us hear from you! Send us a comment!
1. A Treatise on Human Nature (1739-40), ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge (1888), book 1, part 4, section 1, 180.
2 If you don’t have the book then you can use https://books.google.com/ to look this up.
3 Schepley, John C. “Marble Mania!” The Rotarian June 1995 Vol. 166.6, pages 24 – 27.
4 www.mikesmarbles.com 2013
5 We have the staffer’s name in our files. A virtual tour of the Museum is well worth your time: https://www.muscatineartcenter.org/explore/collections Quotations are from email to the staff. 3/23/2022
6 Arts Council | Produce Iowa | State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. Accession #1796, Location: Des Moines; Cultural History; 1880-1882. Attributed to Iowa City Flint Glass Manufacturing Company. Probably owned by Clarence Wilkens. Thank you to Kay Coats, Collections Coordinator, State Historical Museum.
7 http://www.patternglass.com/Factory/IowaCity/index.htm 7/14/2013
8 Dr. Greiner-Bär with Craig McManus. “The Birthplace of the Thuringan Glass Industry & the Glass Christmas Tree Decoration.” The Glow. 42.3 June 2021, pages 5 – 23, quotation page 23.
