A preliminary seriation of 19th-century decorated porcelain marbles

Abstract

Most of the children’s toy marbles found on 19th-century archaeological sites in America were originally imported from Germany. Although semiprecious stone and colorful handmade glass marbles were introduced by German toy makers in the latter half of the century, ceramic marbles, because they were relatively inexpensive, continued to be popular among young marble players. Starting in the 1850s and continuing until early into the first decade of the 20th century, toy makers fashioning ceramic marbles from porcelain decorated their products with hand-painted designs, including geometric patterns and flowers. Recently excavated finds indicate that the various design motifs seen on these marbles are potentially datable. After a general review of ceramic marble types, a classification of the design motifs seen on porcelain marbles is presented and their suggested date ranges are given.