Logging camp huge clay marble

highnam

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Jan 23, 2012
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I posted this 3 years ago and didn't get a consensus if this is a clay marble...found in a 100 y/o R.R. Logging camp. The width is just under 1.5"...also the marble was painted red.
All the ground facets throw me off, could these happen naturally over time? I can't imagine someone would grind these facets on a marble on purpose.
Has anyone seen anything like it? Any thoughts? Thanks! image.jpg image.jpg
 

cheese

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Jan 9, 2005
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South Georgia
It does look like a painted clay. I wonder if they were using it for some odd purpose that would account for the flat spots. I can't imagine why they would be there unless it was used for something other than a game marble. At that size, it might have been in a claw on the bottom of a chair or table and possibly every time the marble got worn down far enough that the claw tips started touching the floor, they turned the marble to a new spot? I can imagine dragging a chair in and out from under a table 3 times a day would wear a clay marble down quickly. Just a guess.
0f1826cc072f38aa2303dade7c9d8755df1dbec2.jpg
 

Molewacker

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Feb 9, 2015
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Perhaps it was a die for a game to where numbers were painted on the flat spots like the Dungeons & Dragons dice.

dd dice.jpg
 

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highnam

highnam

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Jan 23, 2012
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Western Washington
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I thought it might be a gaming piece... But the facets don't line up with the exact opposite side to always have a facet pointing up when rolled.
The chair leg ball is a interesting suggestion. Maybe it was a quick fix to a chair with a broken glass ball and replaced with a large marble...that would be cool. Thanks for the comments!
 

cheese

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Jan 9, 2005
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South Georgia
Those glass balls in the chair legs were actually marbles in some cases. They sometimes had german handmade swirls in the claw's clutches. I figured maybe one broke like you said and this was used in place of it. It's definitely an old marble though. Odd.
 

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