Greentown Tumbler Is Surprise Lot at Virginia Glass Auction

MOUNT CRAWFORD, VA.

:Green Valley Auctions' two main galleries were awash in a rainbow of colors for the firm's annual winter cataloged glass auction on January 28 and 29. The three-session event featured more than 2,500 pieces of blown and pressed glass from the 1850s to the 1990s, with the main emphasis being Victorian period colored and art glass.

Session One comprised a single-owner collection of blown glass that had been gathered throughout the Ohio River Valley over the past 30 years. This eclectic assemblage was offered in 316 cataloged lots and more than 950 bidder's choice table lots.

Highlights included a mid-Nineteenth Century Pittsburgh region free-blown covered sugar bowl on foot in a rare translucent powder blue color, which sold for $1,870, a free-blown cream jug having a most unusual amethyst with turquoise swirls body and applied opaque turquoise handle and foot for $1,265 and an early 1920s Central Glass Works art glass console set consisting of a footed center bowl and matching pair of tall candlesticks, all in amethyst with opaque white applied elements, quickly sold for $468 despite damage to one stick.

Session Two, which followed on Friday evening, drew a good crowd for the selection of Twentieth Century collectible glass that included a collection of Fenton and L.G. Wright wares. The top lot of this session was a rare Dugan Glass Co. Butterfly & Tulip amethyst carnival glass footed bowl, which was 13 inches in diameter and in undamaged condition, selling at $2,090.

Saturday's Session Three, which included a huge selection of Victorian opalescent and art glass, was the eagerly awaited main event for most collectors. Before the sale, head auctioneer Jeff Evans commented that interest leading up to the sale had been very strong; he added that the presale interest had led to 1,000 absentee bids and that as many as five phone bidders would be competing with those in attendance on the most desirable lots.

First up were more than 90 lots of the ever-popular vaseline glass from the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, which quickly sold between $33 and $220.

Vaseline was followed by a selection of colorless and colored early American pattern glass, which included a scarce green Feather four-piece table set with only minor roughness, which sold for $605. Ruby-stained wares continue to be hotly pursued, and a selection of original King's Crown drew much interest, led by an 111/4-inch-high tankard water pitcher featuring a bird in flight and floral engraved decoration, which soared off at $523.

Green Valley offered up another selection of Victorian opalescent glass, and water pitchers again proved to be the most hotly contested form - the star of the show was a blue Stars & Stripes tankard-form, which sailed off at $4,510. The next highest priced pitchers were all cranberry, including a rare Giant Diamond Optic by Phoenix Glass Co., which flew to $3,720; a West Virginia Glass Co. Fern, which reached $3,410; and a Buttons & Braids example that topped out at $3,190.

Sugar shakers and syrup jugs continue to be in high demand and many fine examples were offered here. Two scarce cranberry opalescent syrups led the way - an Opaline Brocade/Spanish Lace and a reverse swirl, which marched off at $2,200 and $1,760, respectively. Most of the other opalescent forms performed very well also, including a rare satin rubina Criss-Cross covered sugar in outstanding condition, which was battled to $2,090.

This sale also included part four of the Ken Depew collection of tumblers. This installment produced the biggest surprise of the entire auction when a Greentown Holly Amber tumbler came to the block. As the bidding began, it was quickly evident that this was not your normal Holly Amber tumbler; the difference being that this 31/2-inch-high example had a beaded rim. While much speculation exists as to the actual intended usage of this piece, it has been listed but never illustrated in Greentown glass references.

Karen Reed, head of the catalog department, commented that the firm had never sold an example of this tumbler before and the she did not recall every actually seeing one herself. She added that the $800/$1,200 auction estimate was based on the two most recent Greentown price guides.

The tumbler opened at $500 with competing absentee bids; immediately a gentleman in the back row raised his bidding card high competing against absentee bids to $2,100, at which point the battle switched to a phone bidder. The floor bidder, who had driven from Indiana just for this tumbler, never took his card down and eventually won the right to take it home for a record $8,810, prompting the astonished crowed to break into applause.

Art glass made up the final part of the sale, led by an extremely rare New England Glass Co. second etching Pomona tumble-up with cornflower decoration, which generated tremendous interest and sold for $4,510.

Prices reported include the ten percent buyer's premium.