Plain Clear Machine-made Bottle Achieves $5,600 at Auction
It’s clear.
It’s machine-made.
It does not even appear to have any embossing.
Without its label, this bottle would not even fetch a nickel to any sensible collector. However, some found it irresistibly rare and exciting enough to drive the bidding at eBay.com to $5,600. There were 18 bids and numerous bidders hashing it out until the final moments of the auction.
By way of comparison, the seller had posted quite a few other similar pre-Prohibition whiskey bottles with labels – an attractive grouping – and no other fetched more than about $100. That, in this author’s mind, is a typical sum for such bottles.
Guess this Mammouth Cave Whiskey is a good (and rare) one!
Rare William Bodmann Cathedral Pickle bottle sells at auction
A rare Wm Bodmann cathedral pickle bottle was recently discovered by pickers in Virginia. Auctioned by Mebane Auctions in North Carolina, the perfect condition example hammered down at $3400, not including commission. The 11.5 inch tall jar which has an open pontil base was described as free of chips cracks or damage after close inspection. However, there did appear to be overall interior stain.
Previously, American Bottle Auctions in California featured a similar if not identical example which closed at $9500.
Mason’s Patent 1858 jar blows by $5000 at auction
A quart Mason’s Patent 1858 canning jar passed the $5000 mark at auction recently on eBay.com The jar, in perfect condition in a medium but rich blue color came from an estate auction. The seller thought it might be a 1970s reproduction. Despite the vague description, collectors quickly realized the jar, with its ground lid, was authentic.
A total of 79 bids brought the price to $5710 at closing. View the auction here.
The beautiful and unusual blue color set this jar apart from the sea of common aqua jars.
A Tale of Two Jacobs Demijohns
Applied seal 19th century American bottles are not all that common. Add a label and a ground stopper to the list of features and one comes up with a very short list of possibilities.
Recently closed on ebay was an auction for a 12-1/2″ tall blue-green demijohn bottle bearing an applied seal marked “THOS. H. JACOBS & CO.” The bottle also retained what appears to be its original label, black print on a red background from the same company. Collectors are no doubt grateful to Mr. Jacobs for including the date 1844 on that label, allowing us to accurately date the bottle. Adding even greater amazement to the bottle is the intact ground stopper.
The seller described the bottle as having a body of 5 inches in diameter. One photo shows a large pontil scar on the base, consistent with glass blowing techniques used in the age displayed on the label.
The bottle sold for $2425.
Also at auction this week at Glassworks Auctions is a nearly identical Jacobs bottle except it is in aqua. Same ground stopper. Same pontil scarred base. The catalog describes the seal as “THOMAS JACOBS & CO.” (without the middle H). It is hard to see the exact seal marking on the single photo posted on the auction but it seems the middle initial H. may be present in the picture. The embossing on the seal may in fact be the same but is mis-cataloged. Glassworks describes the height as 11-1/2″. Once again we see a similar label with similar markings. Note the different address here which is 233 Dock Street.
At the time of this writing, no bid had been placed on this lot. The opening bid is $200.
The Glassworks sale closes January 30th at 10PM Eastern Time.
Auction link: http://www.absenteeauctions.com/glassworks_1/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI
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Coffin Shaped Poison bottle breaks $6000 mark
An amber coffin-shaped poison bottle, with overall patterned hobnail decoration, recently fetched $6766.00 on ebay. Apparently the seller, who had listed a large number of bottles for auction, was unaware of its value. As is often the case, just three individuals carried the bidding over $1000.
View the auction results here
Headed for a New Auction Record
UPDATE: This is a new auction record for an (empty) antique bottle. The closing price was $133,000 and with the 15 percent buyer premium was $152,950
Bottle collectors are keeping a close eye this week on the current Glass Works Auction sale. The bidding on lot 169 has exceeded $100,000 and could double that amount.
The battle is on for a perfect example of a Columbia / Eagle flask from Kensington Glassworks in Pennsylvania. It is one of three known examples in cobalt blue.
Here is a direct link to the auction lot:
http://www.absenteeauctions.com/glassworks_catalog_2/cgi-bin/SHOWITEM.CGI?itf=169
Hartwig Kantorowicz bottles featured at Glass Works Auction
This month’s Glass Works auction of antique bottles and related antiques features 661 lots with a wide variety of quality bottles, flasks, stoneware and other items.
Lots 17 through 33 are all of the same German manufacturer, Hartwig Kantorowicz. There are a total of 15 lots with 21 different bottles represented.
Bottle collectors will first think of the many milk glass examples, especially those with a square tapered body. Many are considered to be bitters bottles. However, on examining the labels in this group, one will see not only bitters represented but also Kummel and other alcoholic drink. Indeed, two of the bottles bear a strong resemblance to the well known Dutch Gilka bottles which contained Kummel.
This Glass Works auction closes January 19, 2015.
Bidding online can be found at http://www.absenteeauctions.com/glassworks_3/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI
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Ebay: Smash your bottle?!
Recently, an ebay transaction of a violin, which sold for about $2500, ended with PayPal ordering the buyer to destroy the violin. PayPal refunded the purchase price to the buyer.
Could this happen with an antique bottle?
I would like to think this was an isolated incident.
See more at:
Instant Cathedral Pickle Collection
I still had not gotten over the breathtaking BLUE pickle bottle that turned up on ebay
recently (item #230778721478) and I thought that could not be topped. But wait! Someone in Florida lists their multi-decade collection of cathedral pickle bottles and the bidding rightly took off to 15 grand. There is simply an amazing lineup of strong colors and a few extra-tough-to-find examples. You will notice there is a bit of damage on some pieces but that is to be expected when you assemble 61 bottles of this caliber.
See auction #320899828111 to view the lot of 61 pickles (closes May 13, 2012) or view all current ebay auctions for cathedral pickle bottles
Back to that blue cathedral pickle that turned up on ebay – it brought a well-fermented price of $16,200. Remember, this is a smooth base bottle – no pontil. It is no record, falling quite a bit short of the ~50 grand paid for an amber Willington pickle about 10 years ago.