: Green Valley Auctions, Inc recently conducted its annual fall
auction of early American glass and lighting.
As anticipated, attendance was strong, with both dealer and
collector presence vying for more than 15,000 pieces of early
American pattern glass and more than 500 lamps and lamp parts.
Included in the four-day event were many rare and important
pieces from both the flint and nonflint categories.
Some 371 bid numbers were assigned, with absentee bids numbering
more than 2,300 over the four-day period. The number of absentee
and phone bids made for an exciting and competitive auction with
40 states and Canada represented. This year's sales topped
$566,000.
This sale opened with more than 5,000 lots of flint and nonflint
goblets, wines and other stems that were sold in choice block and
tray lots, with the vast majority selling in the $5 to $50 range.
Customers were back early Friday morning for more than 4,000
pieces of the remaining forms of early American pattern glass to
include water and milk pitchers, compotes, cake stands, celery
vases, table sets, toothpicks and more. Most representatives of
these categories realized between $10 and $200.
By Saturday morning a determined crowd had grown and was back for
the start of the cataloged portion with more than 1,380 pieces of
exceptional early American pattern glass, blown and blown molded,
and an important array of rare candlesticks, to name a few. The
cataloged portion was preceded by reference books, which
consisted of 51 lots.
The reference books were followed by a selection of flint
stemware that yielded a cut Bellflower Double Vine six-cluster
goblet at $2,750; a fine rib with Bellflower border goblet that
soared to $3,410; the rare Harp goblet, known as one of the top
five most important flint goblets, sold for $3,300; and a
Philadelphia pattern goblet topped $1,155.
A selection of flint tableware represented many patterns and
forms. The much sought-after Bellflower pattern was strongly
represented and yielded a Double Vine milk pitcher, which sold
for $3,410; a Single Vine lemonade/han-dled whiskey in
outstanding condition, which hit $2,420, and a Single Vine
octagonal covered sugar that saw $2,860 despite the typical
slight imperfections. A scarce early Thumbprint water bottle with
tumble-up was captured at $3,190 by a New York City phone bidder.
Cut overlay banquet lamp attributed to Boston & Sandwich
Glass Co., $6,600.
The ever-popular Horn of Plenty pattern included a scarce
oval open compote on high standard in a previously unrecorded size
that yielded $1,650, immediately followed by an extremely rare cake
stand/salver that went to the floor at $1,650. Other well
represented patterns included New England Pineapple, Ribbed Ivy,
Ribbed Palm and Waffle and Thumbprint.
A fine selection of 17 spoon/ spill holders were followed by a
selection of Lacy glass and cup plates. The blown and early
pressed categories were up next and led by the candlesticks. A
rare Pillar molded candlestick with pressed base recently
discovered in Connecticut was much pursued and finally stopped at
$2,310 to an Illinois collector. A scarce pair of blown and
pressed candlesticks topped $1,650. The colored flint category
produced a Bellflower Single Vine small molasses jug/can in fiery
opalescent that commanded $4,070, even with a small crack in the
handle. A Cable spoon holder in translucent starch blue saw
$2,145 and a previously unrecorded Sandwich Vine footed tumbler
with hexagonal foot and blue and gilt decoration weighed in at
$1,100.
A selection of 126 lots of colored EAPG and Victorian glass
included an Inverted Fan and Feather seven-piece berry set in
pink slag, which quickly rose to $2,200, and a rare Hobbs' no.
290 Polka Dot set of 12 tumblers in their original box, which
commanded much attention to close at $3,740. Historical and
animal EAPG ended the session with a Three Face hollow stem
champagne selling for $2,200, while a Deer and Dog small milk
pitcher reached $1,320.
The day's top lot was an extremely rare Jumbo-Canton covered
compote on high standard, which saw fierce bidding to ultimately
close at a record $9,625 to an Ohio phone bidder.
Sunday's final session consisted of an array of glass lighting
from private collections representing the prekerosene to late
kerosene periods. Miniature lamps were also well represented and
drew collectors from several states.
The auction began with fine examples of whale oil and fluid
lamps, girandoles, sparking lamps and an iron crusie. The first
notable lot was a four-tube fluid burner with caps and chain,
which saw a strong $605. The day's top lot, from the kerosene
period, was an overlay banquet lamp in white cut to blue
alabaster attributed to the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., that
topped $6,600. An extremely rare and important Sandwich
Blackberry lamp in teal green was aggressively pursued and
stopped at $3,300; a colorless Adams Temple/Applesauce lamp with
correct font and glass dome containing original silk flowers and
cork seal with paper patent label was a bargain at $880, while
the colorless Ripley Marriage lamp saw $1,100.
The Hobbs' opalescent lamps drew much attention from bidders from
several states, with nearly all of the examples topping the
$1,000 mark. Included were Coin Dot/Windows finger and stand
lamps and Snowflake finger and stand lamps in nearly every color
produced. Leading these was a cranberry opalescent Snowflake
finger lamp in flawless condition commanding $2,200.
As expected, a Seaweed in cranberry opalescent with outstanding
color proved to be a heavy hitter and found much attention to
close at $2,860. An exceptional example of a Princess Feather
with a cased pink font realized $1,430 while a colorless Shoe
finger lamp saw $660.
Rare 1860s lighthouse kerosene burner, $2,200.
Attention turned to the much-awaited lamp parts to include
burners, chimneys and shades. Dan Pinnell, head of Green Valley's
lighting department, commented on the importance of this year's
lighting-related parts and accessories.
He was pleased to have discovered an important early kerosene
period "lighthouse" burner in mint condition in one of the
featured collections. He further commented that bidder knowledge
and sophistication with regard to early lighting became apparent
when the burner found its way to a California phone bidder at
$2,200. A 23/8-inch Miller burner with cobalt petal top chimney
left at $1,265.
Following more than 60 lots of early lamp parts was a fine
collection of miniature lamps consisting of many scarce and
important examples. A ceramic figural elephant with painted ball
shade was much sought after to conclude at $1,705; a grouping of
every color Seaweed yielded a blue example that saw $770, while a
cranberry opalescent swirl with matching petticoat shade was
pursued aggressively to $2,530. By the time Sunday's session came
to a close, the early lighting offerings had generated an
impressive $140,000.
Prices include the ten percent buyer's premium.
