Color, In Dollars & Cents

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Rainy Day Greetings,

I've often read in these pages about how Color is King. Nowhere before, have I seen this so dramatically illustrated as this recently ended Glass Works Auction.

The item was the Russ' St. Domingo Bitters, New York:

"97. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, deep amber, 9 7/8"h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth, 99% original label. A shallow 3/16" in diameter chip is off a beveled corner panel, otherwise perfect. Not as colorful as the other St. Domingo Bitters but the only one with a label.
Minimum Bid: $ 180


Estimate: $ 275 - $ 375
Bidding Ended" From. Apparently a no-sale.

"96. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, deep olive amber, 10 1/8"h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth. Two surface bubbles, located on one of the beveled corner panels, have opinings in the covering glass that may have occurred when the bottle was removed from the mold. Another hard to find color!
Winning Bid: $ 210


Estimate: $ 275 - $ 375
Bidding Ended" From.

"95. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, golden yellowish amber with some olive tone, 10 1/8"h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth. A large interior bubble in the shoulder has an opening in the interior cover glass, otherwise perfect.
Winning Bid: $ 180


Estimate: $ 275 - $ 375
Bidding Ended" Same place.

"94. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, medium yellowish ginger ale color, 10"h, smooth base, applied tapered double collar mouth. Cleaned to its original luster but retains imperfections, mostly in the form of internal matte type etching. Crude with nice glass whittle and lots of tiny seed bubbles throughout. Another rare and unusual color!
Winning Bid: $ 1,300


Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,400
Bidding Ended" You guessed it.

"93. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, olive yellow, 9 3/4"h, smooth base, applied tapered double collar mouth. Cleaned to its original luster and about perfect condition. Another rarely seen color for this bottle!
Winning Bid: $ 375


Estimate: $ 600 - $ 800
Bidding Ended" Uh-huh.

"92. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, brilliant medium copper topaz with deeper apricot striations, 9 7/8"h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth, glass striations throughout. Cleaned to its original luster and about perfect condition. We told you this bottle comes in some great colors, here’s another one!
Winning Bid: $ 1,000


Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
Bidding Ended" Yup.

"91. "RUSS’ / ST. DOMINGO / BITTERS - NEW YORK", (R-125), American, ca. 1865 - 1875, brilliant medium olive green, 9 7/8"h, smooth base, applied tapered collar mouth, perfect. A large glob of glass, located in one base corner, appears to have been left over from the previous blown bottle . Wow, here’s a color you never see this bottle in! We auctioned it in1998 at the FOHBC Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the fist of seven different color Russ St. Domingo Bitters we are offering, many being in very rare or exciting colors.
Winning Bid: $ 6,000


Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
Bidding Ended" Yikes!

Same auction, a run of the same bottle, who'd a thunk... What do you guys think?

 

[GuntherHess]

Gort kicks butt.[]

 

[Lordbud]

I suppose if I won the lottery, and I was really really bored and didn't collect the bottles I like anymore [8D], then I'd have bid on a couple of these. I'm not much into bitters bottles and in fact I sold my two bitters when I weeded out my collection. Western patent medicines are what I like, and I would much rather bid on them because they're generally medium to small bottles. I'm not into large-sized bottles all that much.