37th Northeast Marble Meet - October 8 & 9, 2016

While Hurricane Matthew had earlier in the week threatened to track directly up the coast, the forecast changed, and Friday dawn sunny and warm for the 37th Northeast Marble Meet. Collecotrs and dealers began to arrive on Thursday evening, and by Friday afternoon room hopping, buying and selling were in full swing. If you took the elevator to the 2nd floor and walked left out of the elevator, you were in marble heaven. Rooms on both sides of the hallway were open, exhibiting a plethora of handmade, machine made and contemporary marbles. Marble collectors and dealers traveled from as far away as Washington state and Florida (no doubt to escape the hurricane) to buy and sell marbles, visit friends and renew old friendships. The sale of the evening, at least that anyone was talking about, was a 1-3/4" end of cane single pontil onionskin with three subsurface mica panels, in Mint condition.

 

Saturday morning the auction viewing began at 9AM. The auction consisted of 200 lots of handmade, machine made and contemporary marbles and related ephemera. It was carried live on LiveAuctioneers, as well as in the auction room at the hotel. Over 160 online and live bidders competed for the lots in the auction. The two highest bid items in the auction were Lot 198 a Golden Rebel and Lot 196, a Guinea. The top five highest selling items in the auction were:

 

Lot 198. Peltier Glass Company. Golden Rebel. 5/8". M 9.9  $  450.00
Lot 126. Christensen Agate Company. Guinea. 23/32". M- 9.1  $  420.00
Lot 199. Peltier Glass Company. Guinea. 5/8". M 9.9  $  373.75
Lot 109. Akro Agate Company. No. 125 Gift Box.  $  241.50
Lot 200. Banded Opaque. 23/32". NM+ 8.8  $  241.50

 

You can view the full catalogue with realized prices at https://new.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/94363_northeast-marble-meet-2016-auction.

 

The auction ended in mid-afternoon and was followed by the annual meeting of the Marble Collectors Society of America. The MCSA is the oldest and largest marble club in the world and is celebrating its 41st anniversary this year. Membership discussed various issues related to the club.

 

While some attendees took a break from room-hopping to take a drive and enjoy the colors of the changing leaves, and a trip to Lyman Orchards for fresh apple cider and apple cider donuts, the late afternoon and evening saw very spirited room trading on the second floor of the hotel (where the attendees were located).

 

Saturday evening saw the track of Hurricane Matthew change again as it came up the coast, bring heavy rains and winds to Cromwell starting Saturday night and continuing until after lunch on Sunday. On Sunday, the Marble Show itself was held in the Crowne Room (due to construction in the Nutmeg Room). 28 dealers and organizations filled 35 tables. Highlights are pictured below. Traffic through the exhibit room was somewhat muted due to the inclement weather. About one hundred people attended the show.  Numerous rare and beautiful handmade, machine made and contemporary marbles changed hands. Both collectors and dealers expressed their satisfaction with the show and their transactions. There were no door prize drawings, this year but all attendees received a 9-light led flashlight with the Marble Meet logo on it.