Rare Shaving Mug Cleans Up At Cowan’s Auction

Cincinnati, Ohio

:A rare horse-drawn ambulance driver's occupational shaving mug sold for $22,425 and became the biggest surprise of a recent two-day sale at Cowan's two-day auction October 27–28. The ambulance driver's mug is the only known porcelain mug to feature a horse-drawn ambulance and driver. The mug was originally estimated to sell for $6,000.

Cowan's hosted The Shaving Mug and Barbershop Collectibles Auction on October 27 and the Frank Chiarenza Milk Glass Auction on October 28. The auctions generated combined sales of $542,000 and drew more than 1,000 bidders in-house and online.

The first session made up 445 lots and included part II of a sale of mugs from a prized assortment once owned by Henry Tolman. A railroad porter's mug and a mug featuring a colorful carousel each sold for $11,500, more than doubling their auction estimates. One mug of special interest featured the famous World War I plane, Jenny. The mug fetched $7,475. "So many mugs achieved prices well above their estimates, proving that there is definitely a market for these one-of-a-kind items," said Ted Sunderhaus of Cowan's Auctions.

Shaving mugs were not the only barbershop items of interest at the auction. A Victorian shaving mug rack made of walnut was a surprise when it garnered $4,312. A Heine & Kogel walnut marble top barbershop back bar from Cincinnati fetched $3,335.

Rare and fine barbershop bottles piqued the interest of bidders as well. A Spanish Lace or Opaline Brochade red glass barber bottle sold for $2,070. A cast iron and glass wall mount barbershop lamp garnered a lot of attention from bidders and sold for $2,760.

The milk glass auction featured 478 lots of glassware from the Frank Chiarenza Museum of Glass collection. The big seller of the day was a Greentown Fighting Cocks covered dish. The dish is one of the rarest of all products from Greentown, an Indiana tumbler and goblet company. It sold for $4,887. Two other covered dishes had bidders' numbers held high, a Sandwich blue glass Hen on Nest and a McKee Pig on Nest. The dishes fetched $2,645 and $1,955, respectively.

The most interesting item of the day had to be the milk glass and cast iron phrenology head inkwell that sold for $4,025. This rare item featured a head embossed with various emotions and intelligence levels. A C.H. Shaw milk glass and brass ferry lamp clock was another interesting item sold at the auction. The clock hammered in at $1,955.

All prices reported include the 15 percent buyer's premium. Cowan's Antique Advertising, Dolls, and Toys auction is slated for January. For information, www.cowans.com, 513-871-1670 or ted@cowans.com.