Old Clay Marbles - Browns and Grays chinoiserie with its no-fuss directness

with its  no-fuss directness

reminding me a bit of some of my favorite Picasso portraits

features a scene of scholars in a traditional Chinese scholar's garden

It's got some years on it but remains in excellent condition and is structurally super sound

I wonder if these charming old barber's pole whimsies were carved by a barber in his spare time

Old Clay Marbles - Browns and Grays chinoiserie with its no-fuss directnessI'm not over my obsession with old clay marbles in all their variations, and am adding a few new sets of what I believe are quite old ones. This batch includes one Bennington, and las a whole looks to me like a beautiful bunch of smooth round stones. So lovely. About 50 marbles exactly as shown. These average about 1 2" in diameter, some a little bigger, some a little smaller. I've tried to weed out any with much damage, but certainly there are a few