George Washington drank from this bottle (well, almost)
Up for auction at Skinner Auctions on March 1st is a bottle which, in form, is well known to bottle collectors. It is a black glass ale bottle of about 9 inches in height dating from the late 18th century or thereabouts. Nothing too unusual – you can buy one without a whole lot of difficulty for $100-150.
Then there is Lot 5 in the Skinner sale.
Thanks to more than a little bit of provenance and connection to our first president, Skinner has placed a pre-sale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. I am sure many collectors will be interested to see where the bidding ends.
Affixed to the bottle is a label bearing the text,
Washington Wine Imported in 1792 Rebottled in 1840
View the lot directly at the Skinner website.
Kellys Cabin Bitters emerges from self storage unit
Just when you think there are no more great bottles to be found, you hear yet another story like this one: Somebody is cleaning out a self-storage unit and comes across a green bottle. They list it on ebay and it brings $6700. Surprise!
Yep, that is the story behind this recently discovered gem. You see the KELLYS OLD CABIN BITTERS around in amber often enough, but not olive green. Darn…wish I had been watching ebay that week, because I would have bid!
And here is the color:
Heckler Auction #88 results
This is the only auction that I had a chance to preview this fall, but I got to see a great selection of bottles as always. The auction began and ended on high notes: Lot 1 was an exceptional G1-73 Baltimore Glass Works General Taylor and Fells Point pint in a pink amethyst – a color that could only come from Baltimore. It wasn’t that many years ago when this probably would have sold in the Pollard sale for about 5 grand. This one brought $25,000. The last lot, Lot 100, was in fact from the Pollard sale – it was a GI-19 in a copper amber color and brought $8,000. Clearly historical flasks are the hot item right now with consistently strong prices. The heck with the down economy, everyone is still eager to get the best that money can buy.
The highlight of the auction was lot 99 – a GII-69 Eagle Cornucopia in yellow olive with just the perfect coloration. The color simply glows. Bidders agreed and ran the hammer price up to $39,000.
Lot 36 was eagerly anticipated by New England collectors – the GX-27 Granite Glass Works “Stoddard Flag” closed at $21,000, a price which reflects both the high demand for flasks and the particular interest in this iconic piece of Americana.
Free blown and utility glass was perhaps a bit weak across the board – a group of snuff bottles brought $1500 and a set of nine graduated chestnuts just $2500. Prices realized for these items were not unlike those seen a decade ago, showing that there are at least some good buying opportunities out there.
See the prices realized list at: http://www.hecklerauction.com/Auction88/auction88ppl.html
The auction flyer with color photos:
http://www.hecklerauction.com/Auction88/Auction88web.pdf
Rare amber Van Vliet jar
30 bids pushed the closing price on an amber Van Vliet jar to $21,978.98 – this ebay bottle auction closed July 19th. You have to love it when a person lists something as rare as this with the description “”brown glass” – obviously it was found by someone who knows nothing of bottles and jars. Guess they got a surprise at that closing price!
Check out this auction yourself at ebay.com
EG Booz Old Cabin Whiskey
I stumbled upon a straight roof Clevenger EG Booz bottle on ebay this week – this is a classic Clevenger piece that is fairly faithful to the original and looks genuinely old. The experienced collector, however, knows to look for the details that distinguish it from the originals.
Do you have an original EG Booz bottle? It might just be one of the 31 different reproduction molds documented by Tom Haunton in Tippecanoe and E.G. Booz Too! – A book about cabin bottles Tom’s book (available now only on CD) describes each in detail and the book is richly illustrated throughout. He even went to the effort of assigning a McKearin classification number to each mold. Continue reading…
Naval Deck Sweeper and Naval Boarding Weapon
A good story can always sell an object.
Several bottles appeared on ebay this week described as 18th century “Naval Deck Sweepers” and “Naval Boarding Weapons.” What a lovely and charming story filled with illusions of military battles, gunsmoke, sea journeys and explosives. Most bottle collectors would instantly recognize the freeblown form as what we collectively and quaintly call “Persian Saddle Flasks” or “Mexican tourist trade glass.” No matter what euphemism by which you choose to call them, it is commonly accepted knowledge that such freeblown pieces with exaggerated crudeness in manufacture and intentional ‘coarse’ glass containing significant bubbles and impurities are the work of 20th century glass manufacturers. Such glass has been around for decades, and may have been blown in Mexico, South America, Europe or the mid-East.
While it is not uncommon to find such bottles at any bottle show in the range of $35, it is quite shocking to see that numerous bidders have signed on to the battle and run up the bidding in excess of $500.
P.T. Barnum would not be the least bit surprised.
Update:
Here is another page showing photographs of the Naval deck Sweeper bottles in question.
Sarsaparilla bottles
If you are a collector of sarsaparilla bottles, do take a look at the Glassworks Summer Cleanup auction. They have dozens of examples in this auction. Otherwise it is a lot of common or damaged items but likely something for everyone. The auction closes July 31st.
A few hot ebay auctions of recent
Light puce Drake’s Plantation Bitters $2845.
Benders Bitters rare cabin $4100.
Deep cobalt umbrella ink, mint! $2105
Gibbs Bone Liniment pontiled medicine, don’t see many of these anymore…$2102
Poole’s American Insect Powder, aqua pontiled poison bottle got 39 bids! Closed at $538
Little Rhody Bottle Show, January 9th, 2005
This is a small antique bottle show but one that many look forward to attending each January. This year a snowy Saturday did not deter dealers from making the trip and the crowd was better than ever. The hall was packed for a good portion of the show hours and many dealers reported better than average sales in all price ranges.
Many dealers have been grumbling for several years about lackluster attendance and poor sales….Perhaps this is a sign of a rebound to the economy and the sale of antique bottles at shows in specific? We hope so.
New Online Auctioneer of Bottle and Glass
Delmarva Acquisitions and Appraisals, Inc. completed their first auction on December 10th which showcased 59 lots of American glass and antique bottles. Highlights of the sale included a monumental Pittsburgh pillar molded footed jar with lid which brought $5500, a large amethyst footed vase with matching witchball which closed at $2400 and a matching pair of unusual vases which sold for $1900. The latter were similar to a pair found in Innes’ Pittsburgh Glass.
Owners Waring Gates and Bill (sorry, I forget your last name Bill!) are anticipating 4 auctions per year. More information can be found at their web site, http://www.delmarvauctions.com
We’ll be covering upcoming auctions in further detail…