SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – American Bottle Auctions presented Part 1 of the Don Dwyer collection of bitters and soda bottles in an online auction. Starting on February 26 and ending on March 7, about 250 bottles, nearly all from the Dwyer collection, crossed the block, led by a rare bottle considered the most desirable of the Western bitters, according to Jeff Wichmann of American Bottle Auctions.

“Don Dwyer has spent decades putting together a collection of bitters that had just about every example made for and sold in the West,” said Wichmann. “In addition, his interest in Western soda and mineral water bottles added greatly to his huge entire inventory. Because he liked to collect color runs and made sure he had most variants, we will be presenting this collection by dividing it up so auctions 1 and 2 will both have bitters and sodas.”

Selling for $29,900, including buyer’s premium, was a Cassins’ Grape Brandy Bitters C 78, 1866-73, a color described as a yellow green. It is the second variant and, although it appears unblemished, there is an in-making area on the lip where possibly a bubble interfered in creating a perfectly formed top. “They come in a lot of different colors from amber to green,” said Wichmann, “and there are two variants; this one has the comma in the word Cassin,s instead of an apostrophe. They were meant to resemble a cello. One of only a few Western bottles purposely made in a figural shape.”

Watch for a full review of this sale later as well as information about when Part 2 of the collection will be conducted.