Sold: Explosive Billiard Balls

Description

Pair of “exploding” early celluloid billiard balls, c. late nineteenth, with a handsome patina and craquelure.

In search of a replacement to expensive ivory, billiard ball manufacturer Phelan & Collender offered a $10,000 reward (equivalent to several hundred thousand dollars today) to the inventor of a suitable replacement material. Answering the call, John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which he patented in 1869. The new plastic was an ideal substitute for ivory with one significant drawback: flammability.

Celluloid is made from nitrocellulose, aslo known as pyroxylin, flash paper, and gun cotton — all highly flammable materials. As Hyatt himself observed, two balls striking each other could produce “a mild explosion like a percussion guncap.” As the inventor of celluloid recalled, “We had a letter from a billiard saloon proprietor in Colorado, mentioning this fact and saying that he did not care so much about it, but that instantly every man in the room pulled his gun.”

Though perhaps treacherous ricocheting across the table, these exploding billiard balls are shelf-stable sculptural objects.

Crackled antique patina.

Measurements

2.25 inches in diameter

Shipping

Free in the continental United States. If an international buyer, please contact me for a shipping estimate by clicking here.