Old unmarked mystery cue brass joint Ivory ferrule - guesses on maker?

Beebop21

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just had to buy this never having seen anything like it.

Has the old brass joint similar to the Rambow's, Ivory ferrule, ebony butt cap, bumperless, with a mother of pearl inlay I presume over the butt screw. Checkered rings with a bunch of different woods.

Presuming it is at least early 60's vintage, maybe earlier?

Anyone have any guesses for who made it?

I'm not very knowledgeable of makers from that time period, but of known makers I was guessing maybe Doc Frye or Abe Rich. After doing this research, I thought to check where the seller who owned it for decades is from, and he happened to be only 15 minutes from Feasterville, PA where Doc Frye's shop was, for what that's worth. I was just guessing Doc Frye as I saw some examples where the butt cap and joint looked sorta the same, though there are things that dont match what Doc Frye cues were characterized by. After I got it I went back and asked the seller if he knew anything about where it came from......he said he couldn't remember but that there was a sticky note on it with the name George Britner (which seems would have been way earlier).

Also curious whether anyone has any idea how rare it would be for a particular maker to have that many types of wood laying around that went into this cue....

Thanks much for any info or guesses.

View attachment 506329 IMG_20181123_120807.jpegView attachment 506330View attachment 506331View attachment 506332View attachment 506333

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Type79

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pics

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EDIT: Misspelling
 

Beebop21

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Reposting a couple pics that don't appear when I look at the full site...IMG_20181123_120751.jpegIMG_20181123_120726.jpegIMG_20181123_120827.jpeg

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cue fix

Will "MONSOON" & SEARING!
Silver Member
Now that I have read your post. It very well could be a George Britner as it is turned in a Britner fashion where the butt thins from the wrap area to the butt cap
 

Chopdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
there was a sticky note on it with the name George Britner

I think we have an answer.

As for the variety of wood, those are smaller pieces. Not unusual for a cue maker to have a variety of "scrap" pieces to put together such a design IMHO.

Cool cue I think. :smile:

.
 

Beebop21

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks guys. That's pretty cool if it's actually Britner's work. Is it something worth enough that I should have it authenticated or something, if there is anyone who could even do that?

I will have to try and research Britner more, as to this point I haven't found much about him, other than the relationship with Rambow, and that he was active in the late 1800-early 1900s.

Any guesses for when the cue might date from? I would suppose if it's a Britner that it might be even earlier than the 1950s...? I thought the Brunswick brass joint might have come along a bit later than his timeframe, but don't really know. Maybe the joint was reworked later.

In any event, I did find one other post of a cue suspected to be a Britner, and it also had an inlay in the buttcap, so piece seems to match.

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Beebop21

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to opine on it. One member messaged me to suggest Joe Marchant who I had never heard of. I haven't found much information about Marchant beyond what is in the Blue Book 3rd Ed and looking at a couple examples (just one online and 1 in the blue book), but a lot seems right. The 60s/70s vintage is right, the buttcap appears right with it's shape and the ring, joint is right, the George Britner style/using lots of different woods in blocks seems right. Blue book says he was known for ivory buttcaps and stamping Marchant on the joint.......mine doesn't have those 2 things, but at least one example had a wood buttcap, and would suppose he could have done cues before he started stamping the joints.

Anyway, seems a pretty good guess to me, although I know little of cues this old.

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classiccues

Don't hashtag your broke friends
Silver Member
Marchant...

Example

JV
 

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Beebop21

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Wanted to close the loop on this one, more for posterity with anyone researching Marchant cues in the future than anything else. There isn't much I could find about Marchant at the time of this post.

I contacted the two individuals most familiar with Joe Marchant's work as far as I know, and best qualified to offer an opinion as to whether it is/is not/ could be Joe's work, providing photos and measurements. For what it's worth both believe it to be an early Marchant given the number of consistencies and style, though one can't be 100% positive. Not going to throw out names of these individuals or anything as that wouldn't be right, but it was enough that I'm not going to bother researching this any further, but just enjoy it.

Applicable measurements:
The butt section is 5.5 inches long.
Joint diameter .842.
Ferrule is 7/8".
57 5/16" total length.
28.5" shaft.
Buttcap just a hair over an inch.**

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and/or photos they contributed. You make azbilliards great.







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ideologist

I don't never exaggerate
Silver Member
Wanted to close the loop on this one, more for posterity with anyone researching Marchant cues in the future than anything else. There isn't much I could find about Marchant at the time of this post.

I contacted the two individuals most familiar with Joe Marchant's work as far as I know, and best qualified to offer an opinion as to whether it is/is not/ could be Joe's work, providing photos and measurements. For what it's worth both believe it to be an early Marchant given the number of consistencies and style, though one can't be 100% positive. Not going to throw out names of these individuals or anything as that wouldn't be right, but it was enough that I'm not going to bother researching this any further, but just enjoy it.

Applicable measurements:
The butt section is 5.5 inches long.
Joint diameter .842.
Ferrule is 7/8".
57 5/16" total length.
28.5" shaft.
Buttcap just a hair over an inch.**

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and/or photos they contributed. You make azbilliards great.







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Ha, "not giving out their names" but these anonymous experts verified it for you.

I hope you run many racks with this cue
 

Beebop21

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just updating this for posterity. I was reasonably sure before, but seeing this Marchant just listed on eBay really sealed it for me. Very similar design with all the different woods glued up bordering the handle above and below, same buttcap with inlay. This one has the Marchant stamp on the joint.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324170391936

Mine does not have the stamp on joint, and has a more rounded pin than the flat pin Marchant was known to use.......my conclusion is that he made at least some cues before those two things became uniform elements in his cues.

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