ARTHUR QUEUE
TOTEM CUE
BY MARCUS DIENST
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A little background on Arthur Queue in case you're not familiar with them - Arthur Queues are made by Marcus Dienst of Germany. He is one of two great cuemakers from Europe, the other also being from Germany, Michael Vollmar. Marcus is the only European to be invited as an exhibiting cue maker to the International Cue Collector Show. His work is top notch, and he comes up with incredible designs and builds beautiful cues.
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This cue, of course, is about as unusual as you can find from Marcus. It was made for the Native American Special Collection for the International Cue Collector Show in Santa Fe in 2009. We found and bought it from a private collection recently, and it is still unplayed, unchalked and in "new" condition.
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We've bought and sold seven or eight Arthur cues through the years, and every time, I haven't been able to resist test-hitting them. As soon as you hit with an Arthur, you know you're experiencing something special, and somewhere in the back of your mind your think "German engineering." So, when I acquired this cue, I hit a few balls with it and was, as usual, very impressed. I asked a good player here locally, who I know is very discriminating in his cue choices, to try it. He hit one shot, laid it down and backed away like he was afraid of it, and quickly said, "It's sick how good that cue hits."
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So, about the design of this cue. Made on a native American theme, Marcus chose a Totem pole design. It seems like a natural plan, but I'm sure it was easier thought of than done. And the more you look closely at this stick, the more you realize there is a ton of work in it.
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Just listen to the list of materials used in this cue: built from sapele wood, it contains inlays of ebony, blood wood, turquoise, maple and red veneers, snakewood, sterling silver, gold, buffalo horn and walrus tooth.
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The cue comes with a letter from Marcus that explains his idea. "A totem pole represents the crests of a tribe, and the signs are selected by the chief. It shows myths, incidents and people, often encoded." It's obvious he gave this stick a lot of thought.
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This cue is subject to a lot of interpretation. Marcus said the cue represents the family - the lower part symbolizes the father, the middle section the child, and the upper portion the mother. Beyond that, the interpretation is up to the viewer.
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Personally, the work and symbols in this cue seem reminiscent of a northern tribe, perhaps Washington or Alaska, as opposed to Indians of the southwest or other sections of the U.S. It looks more like the work of the Innuits or some of the other northern Athabaskan cultures.
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Marcus indicates in his letter that he has built a "dream catcher" at the joint, which "shall make the player's dream come true."
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The upper section contains the figure of a bird-like figure, with a black body and wings. If you look closely you'll seem a "black on black" texture that represents the feathers on the wings.
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Just below the bird image is a face which I assume represents the mother, done in great detail with lots of subtle inlays of different woods and materials.
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Below the mother image is an image of a child, again done in great detail with arms and legs done in different wood inlays.
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Below the child, and basically at the butt sleeve end of the cue, is the father figure, again done in incredible detail.
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The legs of man are built from ebony and are strong and sturdy, structurally to support the pole, but also symbolizing the strength of supporting the entire family. And of course, at the very bottom is the familiar "O" logo, representing all Arthur cues.
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I've tried to take pictures of this cue with a couple of different types of lighting to show some of the subtle detail. I hope it helps.
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These pictures of the birdlike figure show the very subtle detailing of the feathers in the wings.
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More pictures of the incredible detail and work in this stick...
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| Take a good look at the fine detail that went into the feathers of the dream catcher at the joint. Each feather is individually engraved and detailed by hand. I would estimate that just having a set of joint protectors like this built would cost a minimum of $1500.
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He builds this cue with the same joint as his other cues, with a 3/8X10 stainless steel pin. It comes with two 13mm premium maple shafts with what look to me like ivory ferrules. It weighs 19.5 ounces, which surprised me, because it felt much lighter when I hit with it. The tips look like LePros.
This is an incredible cue - very collectible, and very, very playable. It's the kind of functional art that exemplifies cue making at its best. It could be displayed in a museum, or played daily running rack after rack.
PRICE: $6800 PLUS SHIPPING
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