The story goes that bottle collectors Edmund and Jayne Blaske bought the Keene Glassworks cobalt blue GIV-3 historical flask with Masonic emblems from a Canadian seller. The collectors were traveling at the time, but they made shipping arrangements with the seller to send it to their home, figuring they would both arrive back at nearly the same time. When they arrived home from their travels, the box was waiting for them on their doorstep. It was late, they were tired. The couple resolved together to wait until the morning to open it. But the box beckoned like a present on Christmas morning, this was something the Blaske’s, and nearly no one else on Earth, had. They gave in and opened it. And as late as it was, the night grew longer until the sun rose and morning came. There was no sleep for the Blaskes that night, their minds awakened by the rapture of a blue bottle. According to Norman Heckler, there is only one other known blue GIV-3 flask known. From the Blaskes, this example made its way into the Dr Charles and Jane Aprill collection and would serve as the foundation for one of the greatest collections of blue antique bottles ever amassed. Part I of the Aprill collection approaches the block at Heckler, and the GIV-3 bottle joins other top lots from around the country in this week’s picks.
HECKLER
Sale Date: March 11–20, 2019 (Online)
Lot 26
Masonic Arch And Emblems — Eagle And J.K / B. Historical Flask
Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks, Keene, N.H., 1815–30. Rich cobalt blue in the lower half shading to a medium cobalt blue in the upper half, tooled flared mouth — pontil scar, pint; GIV-3, extremely rare color. Ex Edmund and Jayne Blaske collection, Dr Charles and Jane Aprill collection.
Estimate: $40/80,000
NEW ORLEANS AUCTION GALLERIES
Sale Date: March 23–24, 2019
Lot 875
Pair of English Gothic Revival Oak Hall Benches
Mid-Nineteenth Century with triple-paneled trefoil-carved backs, plank seats and raised on cabriole legs with scrolled toes, bearing the partial paper label from The London & Stansted Furnishing Co, 41 inches width each.
Estimate: $4/7,000
HERITAGE
Sale Date: March 23, 2019
Lot 86162
Nosferatu Promotional Ad
PranaFilm, 1921, German magazine promotional ad, 17¼ by 11¾ inches, Albin Grau artwork.
Estimate: $10/20,000
COTTONE AUCTIONS
Sale Date: March 23, 2019
Lot 69
Tiffany Studios Side Table
New York, circa 1910. Brownish-green patina and quarter sawn oak. Impressed “TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK.” Top is stamped and numbered, 30¼ by 14½ inches square.
Estimate: $8/12,000
BRUNK
Sale Date: March 21–23, 2019
Lot 1683
American Federal Surveyors Compass
New York, circa 1788, with bar-type limb, two sight vanes on dovetail mounts, sun-ray engraved star on face with snake form needle arrestor, signed “C. Hurtin, Goshen. A 1788 N. 7,” 13¼ inches long. Christian Hurtin was born in either Newark, N.J., or New York City. Around 1775, he moved to Goshen, N.Y., where he advertised as a clock and watchmaker. There are three recorded examples of compasses by Hurtin.
Estimate: $3/5,000
SWANN
Sale Date: March 21, 2019
Lot 99
Johann Bernoulli Signed Letter
Signed, “J. Bernoulli Pere,” to “Mr. Bernoulli,” in French, stating that Paris seems to think him dead since he does not receive any news or publications from the academy, reminding the recipient that he is still alive and sending New Year greetings on behalf of himself and his sons. Basel, December 26, 1745.
Estimate $4/6,000
MARCH IN MONTANA
Sale Date: March 22–23, 2019
Lot 551
Navajo Rug
Crystal Area pictorial weaving with gold, black and red aniline dye, featuring an Indian head in the center. Rug was commissioned by Ken Lively of Chama, N.M. Woven by the wife of a Navajo Tribe Chief near Gallup, N.M. Woven from all handspun wool. Circa 1930, 14 feet by 9 feet.
Estimate: $10/15,000
SRQ AUCTIONS
Sale Date: March 24, 2019
Lot 125
Unusual Chinese Hard Wood Alter Table
Carved ball design, 67 inches long.
Estimate: $600/900
TREASURESEEKERS
Sale Date: March 24, 2019
Lot 137A
Martin Brothers Glazed Stoneware Fish Jug
Made in England, circa 1900, bulbous form with large fish to one side and several jellyfish, the other side has a verse below the spout “Welcome my friends! Drinke with a noble hearte,” 9 inches high.
Estimate: $2/3,000
