Matched pair of blown molded and pressed clear whale oil lamps by Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., $18,700.
Teal pressed tulip vase, $10,450.
Wheeler’s Berlin Bitters bottle, $9,900.
MOUNT CRAWFORD, VA. – With a huge grouping of more than 6,000 pieces of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century glass, seven such groups were combined at Green Valley Auctions the weekend of May 9-10. The glass came from noted antique price guide editor Kyle Husfloen; Harold and the late Marcia Grunewald; the H. Richard Strand Trust; the James Pollard collection of drinking vessels; lacy pressed glass and ceramics from the Charles Rand Penny collection; selections from Marjorie and Duell Glover; also Frances and the late Herman Taylor; and others.
The expected high price leader was advertised as previously unrecorded and one of the most important discoveries in the field of early American glass in the last 20 years.
The owners were stunned to learn they had the only such known matched pair of blown molded and pressed clear whale oil lamps, each with 12 flutes around the lower section with pronounced ribs and heavy pressed Diamond Pinwheel toddy plate bases. Made by Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., dated 1828-1830, they were not large, being only 61/2 inches high with 47/8-inch diameter bases. Condition was outstanding with light mold roughness and flakes that were not disfiguring. Bidding was intense and the pair sold for $18,700.
The sale grossed $400,086, including the ten percent buyer’s premium. These proceeds included 106 lots of James Pollard’s glass reference library that contributed $6,033.
There were 297 registered bidders from 35 states and Canada of whom 170 live bidders participated in the hall during the two-day sale. Approximately 106 absentee bid-ders entered more than 2,250 bids coupled with 65 separate phone bids. One dealer from Williamsburg, Va., had just endured knee surgery and, although he could hardly walk or drive said, “I wait for Green Valley glass auctions for months. They are world class. Nothing could keep me away from this sale.”
Another customer from Atlanta came just to see a small number of vintage bottles. He said the trip was worth it because he knew they would be in excellent condition. He entered several absentee bids. Also, a staff member explained, “Yes, this is a big sale, but our Fall Glass Sales are always much larger.”
Higher prices awaited Saturday’s buyers because Session One, on Friday, disposed of more than 1,300 block lot EAPG goblets, wine glasses and tumblers. These were followed by additional buyer’s choice table and tray lots of grouped uncataloged ordinary pieces. Blocked lots of drinking vessels sold from $10 to $132; 16 such lots, however, performed especially well and reached prices from $400 up to $1,760.
Top selling vase was a deep brilliant teal or blue-green pressed tulip vase from the Glover Collection selling for $10,450. It was made by Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. Also from Glover was a pressed four-printie block vase, brilliant emerald green, with gaffered rim, wafer to a hexagonal base, 11½ inches high, by Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., that settled for $3,850.
Other prized vases were two from the Husfloen collection, both of pressed tulip design, by Boston & Sandwich Glass Co, standing approximately ten inches high, with deep emerald green vase selling for $3,850 and the deep amethyst version going for $4,675.
A complicated pressed lacy glass design called the Hairpin had the tray in the shape of a peacock, with clear closed handle, and according to Wilson reference, “This tray is among the rarities of lacy pressed glass.” It was not round, having dimensions of eight inches by 9¼ . Its price, even with some minor damage, was $4,125.
Extra interest came from quieter bidders; a free-blown with engraved decoration pint jug, clear nonlead glass with slight blue tint, baluster form, crude applied solid handle, applied circular foot with small deep open pontil and decorated with floral swags, love knots and vines, it was Mid-Atlantic, possibly from Maryland, made during the early Nineteenth Century period. High bid was $1,760.
A cut strawberry diamond and fans stand lamp, clear free-blown, Pittsburgh or New England, 12 inches high, reached $550. A deep blue cobalt pillar molded lead glass vase, eight ribs strongly swirled to right at rim, applied solid stem with compressed knob, probably from Pittsburgh, sold high for $2,970.
A lucky auction staff find from a local estate was a bitters bottle that earned $9,900. Embossed “Wheeler’s Berlin Bitters Baltimore,” it was a brilliant deep yellow-green, hexagonal form with two blank panels, applied lip and large rough pontil. With a nicely whittled surface, it stood 93/4 inches high.
The Grunewald Collection yielded an unmarked fruit jar, deep emerald green, cylindrical form with ten panels on tapering shoulder, applied deep galleried rim with interior ledge, large graphite pontil and standing 8¾ inches high, cataloged as undamaged, that worked bidders up to $3,190.
Two other Grunewald Collection rdf_Descriptions were crowd favorites. First, a cut double overlay stand lamp — white over clear over dark emerald green — cut in a star, quatrefoil and ovals design connected to a white “40” base having white opalescent highlights, Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. 1850-1880. It was 14 inches high and its sale finished at $2,750.
Second, another lamp with cut overlay stand lamp — white over clear over light red with swirled opaque white stripes — pear-shaped font cut and more detailing, on a square black marble base. It was attributed to the shop of Nicholas Lutz, Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., dated 1870-1880. It was an extremely rare and previously unrecorded combination of overlay and latticino-type glass. Only ten inches high, it fetched $2,420.
Candlesticks were in abundance. The highest price of $1,320 went to a 9½- inch-tall glass dolphin, with dolphin and shell socket, clear, square one and a half step base, with a chip under one base corner. It was the rarest of the dolphins and was discovered at a local estate. It hailed from Boston & Sandwich Glass Co.
A tall pressed eight-panel quart bar bottle, deep amethyst, with its rare original glass stopper with pewter mount and partial original cork, applied lip and polished pontil went quickly to a delighted customer for $1,375.
An undamaged pickle jar featured square with fancy cathedral arches, brilliant medium green, rolled lip and smooth base, standing 111/2 inches high, brought $1,100.
The Charles Penny Rand Collection offered a historical decorated plate, pearlware with embossed blue feather edge rim, center with freehand polychrome enamel spread wing eagle, shield on chest, holding arrows and olive branch in talons, 11 stars above. It was unmarked and 57/8 inches diameter. Several areas of light discoloration did not limit its final bid of $1,760.
One surprising high price was a tiny glass flask that reached $4,125. It was described as GVIII-25, Sunburst, deep brilliant copper puce, half pint, plain lip, pontil, and probably by Baltimore Glass works. It stood only 53/4 inches high.
Two other flasks included a GVI-4, “Corn for the World,” “Baltimore” monument, golden amber, quart, oval iron pontil, with some wear yet able to attract $2,090, and an unknown origin flask, brilliant blue, half pint, with shield and rearing lion holding an axe, and grapes and leaves on reverse. Its undamaged condition allowed for an identical price of $2,090.
At Green Valley, absentee buyers are offered the Plus 1 option. If selected, it enables the auctioneer to raise the absentee bid one time above stated maximum. This is important because the highest bid amount might have been orally entered by someone else bidding in the normal sequence of auctions. Without the Plus 1, the absentee bidder would have been automatically eliminated with no chance to respond. Historically, Plus 1 has been the deciding factor in the elector’s favor several times.
Owner/auctioneer Jeff Evans is an active member in pressed glass organizations and has a lifelong interest in glass.
