The top lot of the second
session was a half-pint Lafayette/bust of Lafayette - Masonic
arch flask in apple green, $44,000.
Mebane
Collection Brings $2 Million at Glassworks
EAST GREENVILLE, PENN. -- The second portion of the highly
anticipated Bob Mebane absentee auction closed February 17 with
strong prices posted across the boards. Mebane, who began
collecting during the mid-1960s, was referred to as a "second
generation" collector, i.e., the second wave of great collectors
that followed in the footsteps of glass collecting pioneers such
as George McKearin. This second generation included the likes of
Charles Vunno, Paul Richards and Charles Gardner, as well as the
late Bob Mebane and his wife Beka.
Mebane amassed his nearly 1,000 prime examples of historical
flasks, inks, bottles, stoneware, advertising and candy
containers between 1965 and the early 1980s during a "time when
great examples could be found at what (in hindsight) were
reasonable prices," according to the catalog. His collection has
been referred to as "one of the last great old-time collections."
The depth of the glass collection was astounding with 178 flasks
in rare molds and colors, 275 inks -- many of which were also in
rare colors -- and 83 choice bottles. Glass collectors were out
in force with bidding coming from around the world. While the
flasks and American bottles attracted a great deal of attention
from throughout the United States, the auction house reported a
large number of bids from Europe competing for the prime
selection of black glass, and a grouping of English flasks went
back to the motherland.
A Masonic arch/eagle in deep purple amethyst sold for $39,600.
The auction was divided into two sessions closing four months
apart. Auctioneer James Hagenbuch commented, "We would have never
seen the same prices realized across the boards had this been a
single session auction; there was just too much quality stuff.
There were pretty much the same participants involved in the
bidding for both sessions," he said, and the extended break gave
many a welcomed period to recuperate from the heavy spending that
occurred during the first session. The first 490 lots of the
auction realized $1,041,700, and the smaller second session
brought in an impressive $995,500. All prices include the ten
percent buyer's premium.
The top lot in the second session of the Mebane auction was a
half-pint Lafayette/bust of Lafayette - Masonic arch flask in
light apple green that carried a $25/35,000 presale estimate. The
flask was described as the "only known example" and when
discovered, in time for the revised McKearin book, it was
attributed to the Mt Vernon Glassworks. The Glassworks catalog
disputed that, however, claiming that "except for the profile,
nothing else about this flask matches the Mt Vernon group, nor
does it match the Lafayette flasks from the Coventry Glassworks."
Hagenbuch stated that the "unusual herring bone sides" were one
of the key items that soured them on the McKearin/Wilson
attribution as well as the physical makeup of the flask. "The
glass itself is not from either of those glass houses," he
stated. "The color and the thick heavy glass does match that of
the sometimes referred to, 'two-pounder' sunburst from Keene,
N.H, Glassworks."
A cobalt drape ink reached $9,350.
Regardless of where the flask was manufactured, the color, rarity
and the near perfect condition of the flask had collectors from
across the nation poised for serious action. Bidding on the flask
was brisk with it selling at $44,000, to a New England collector,
establishing a record price paid at auction for the flask.
Numerous records were set throughout the sale including a Jenny
Lind calabash in cobalt blue that sold well above the $5/7,000
estimates bringing $14,300, a Wheat, Price & Co. flask in
medium emerald green brought a record price of $26,400, and an
eagle/sun-burst in tobacco amber made a record at $39,600.
Other top lots from the auction included a bust of
Washington/sheaf of grain half-pint flask in cobalt selling at
$37,400, a deep purple amethyst Masonic arch/eagle flask sold at
$39,600, and a Success To The Railroad/locomotive flask in deep
emerald green was knocked down at $15,400.
Scroll flasks in rare and unique colors also performed extremely
well with a deep cobalt scroll (GIX-2) selling for a record price
of $17,600, a deep emerald green scroll flask (GIX-13) went out
at $8,800, and a dark amethyst pink scroll (GIX-14) established a
record price paid at auction of $19,800.
The inks proved exceptionally popular with Hagenbuch commenting,
"As in the first half of the auction, the colored inks and master
inks brought a lot more than we could have ever expected." The
highlight of the inks was the gallon-size Harrison's in a vibrant
cobalt color, dark at the base fading to a brilliant blue in the
center and then dark at the top. "This was one of my favorites
from the collection," stated Hagenbuch, "it has been ever since I
watched it sell at the Gardner sale in 1975 for around $4,000."
The cobalt gallon-size Harrison's was one of two offered in the
auction, with a wide-mouth example having been sold in October
for $33,000. "This was one of the bottles that was heavily talked
up," said Hagenbuch, "and even though the wide-mouth was unique,
it lacked the appeal of this bottle." Bidding on the lot ended at
$40,700.
Other master inks sold included a Jones 12-sided open pontil
bottle in deep olive green selling at $15,400, and a smaller
pint-sized example also in olive green brought $6,600.
The top lot of the regular inks was a Harrison-Tippecanoe clear
figural log cabin ink made for William Henry Harrison's 1840
Presidential campaign selling at $11,550, a dark olive
puck-shaped ink with embossed motif of a man on a horse sold at
$11,000, and a drape pattern cone ink in deep cobalt realized
$9,450.
Anna Pottery "Shoo Fly" jug, $4,950.
The highlight of the black glass was a rectangular-shaped bottle
with beveled sides and a seal marked "JNO, Jackson, 1751," that
sold for an impressive $16,500, purchased by an "overseas agent
bidding on behalf of an American client." A black glass "onion"
seal bottle dated 1720 also did well, bringing $6,600.
There was a group of bottles in the $4/8,000 price range that
brought strong prices. "Like the first session, many of these
bottles sold very high simply because there are more players
involved at this level," stated Hagenbuch. "There were also
significant prices paid because anytime you get a definitive
collection like this, you will get a premium price." Included was
a bust of Washington/sailing ship flask in light sapphire blue
that was estimated at $4/5 ,000, yet realized $9,900, a pint-size
eagle/eagle flask in medium cobalt estimated at $4/6,000 that
brought $9,900 and an eagle-Liberty/oak tree flask estimated at
$1,8/2,800 that went out at $8,250.
One of the great rarities from the Mebane collection was the
North Bend/Tippe-canoe cabin-form bottle in a deep emerald green.
These bottles were originally made for the Presidential campaign
of William Henry Harrison in 1840, but according to legend, fell
victim to the temperance movement and but a few survived. Most of
those examples have had a corner knocked out so that the alcohol
contents could have been drained, as was the case with this
example. In otherwise good condition, the bottle was bid to
$34,100.
