West Virginia's First Family of Marble Makers!!!
about us: Jim Davis began his glass working career in 1946 at the age
of 16 at the Mid Atlantic Glass Company in Ellenboro, WV. In 1967 he put
a hobby of hand cutting (etching) crystal glassware into business at his
home. He enjoyed working with glass and even made paperweights and
animals at the glass factory on his breaks.
In 1977 he moved the hand cutting business from his home to a store
front in Pennsboro, where Davis Marbles is located today.
In 1990, a marble collector asked why he didn't make marbles? So he
gathered some tools and began his marble making career. He got so busy
with trying to keep up with collectors that he eventually retired from
the glass factory, built his own studio and would then take his work on
the road during weekends attending marble shows.
An illness in 2000 now makes it impossible for Jim to carry on the
marble making. Jim had six sons and all agreed that we would not let
Jim's dream stop. All six sons entered into the business with two sons
working full time in the studio. Our plans are to continue the marble
making tradition started by Jim and expand it with new creations as
often as we can. The store in Pennsboro will be torn down and replaced
with a new one. Each year we hope to come out with a limited marble
collection set. To date we've offered two. The first being the (2001)
Margaret L. Davis Collection (sold out) and the second, and a (2004) Jim
Davis family marble set. Marbles made by the sons for the years 2000,
2001, 2002 and 2003 are completely sold out. 2004 is limited!
We'd like to thank those collectors who continually visit our auctions
and ebay store for marbles. We welcome any ideas and we look forward to
bringing you many, many more unique contemporary art marbles in the
future. Thank you all! The Davis Family
First off or End of cane:
Glass that is gathered from our tank, is put into a cane form where the
marbles are eventually rolled out. The cane, can make as many 6 to 8
marbles depending on the size of the marbles that are made. Although
each marble will have the same color, each will have a certain twist to
the color that will make it unique from the others.
The most unique marbles of the cane are the first and the last ones. We
call the first marble the "first off cane" because that is what it is,
the very first marble to come off the cane.
We call the end of cane marble, the "end of cane" because that is what
it is, the last marble to be made from the cane. Sometimes these get
made into paperweights. The glass at the end of the cane is more likely
to be swirled together, losing the original pattern that was designed
into the cane itself.
The first off cane will more than likely be a "bit" of color with a
dome of clear glass covering it. The unique look that is in the first
off cane is made when the cane itself is dipped into clear glass for
casing. Gravity pulls the color away from the cane and the pattern
itself. If the maker wants the last off cane to be a marble, more than
likely it will be a swirl with the colors flowing throughout.
Mike's Peacock marble...
In the early 90's as the boys tinkered with the glass in the evenings
and weekends, it became apparent that there might be a little
competition about who can come up with "The Marble"... or maybe just
something a little different.
We had to go through our tests with dad because as sure as we thought
we'd have a new one, dad would show us that he had already "been there,
done that".
So when Mike came up with his version of a peacock marble, he knew he
had found his new one. It didn't take long for dad to figure out how he
did it but it did take a little longer for the rest of us and that's not
saying we have the technique down for sure. So credit Mike for the Davis
Peacock design. Some of his older ones made it into the market however I
am sure he has his private collection of peacocks from the beginning
showing his original colors used.
Thanks for looking!!! |
)
