Current Glass Works Auction

[rraack]

Dream a little. If you could choose one or two bottles from the current Glassworks Auction to own (of course not having to buy), what would they or it be and why?

http://www.rtam.com/glassworks_catalog/cgi-bin/CATALL.CGI

My first pick would be # 161. "WHEELER’S - BERLIN - BITTERS - BALTIMORE", (W-83), Baltimore Glass Works, olive green, 6-sided, 9 3/4"h, iron pontil, applied tapered double collar mouth. This bottle would fit well into my eclectic collection of bottles that concentrates on variety of shape and color and I generally prefer pontiled bottles over smooth bases.

My second choice would be # 13. EAGLE - EAGLE, (GII-24), Louisville Glass Works, deep olive green pint, open pontil, sheared and tooled lip, with crude pebbly glass, seed bubbles throughout and in an extremely rare color! I've always wanted one of the Louisville double eagle flasks, because the embossing is so full and pronounced it really dazzles the eye, but I would prefer a quart. I thought about # 14, but in aqua it seems kind of ordinary and the neck shapes distracts from the main body.

 

[epackage]

287. "BOONVILLE / MINERAL SPRING / BOONVILLE, N.Y." (in slug plate), New York, ca. 1880 - 1895, deep amber Hutchinson, 7"h, smooth base, tooled gravitating mouth. Never cleaned but does have several areas of light scratching and tiny dings along the edge of the base.

290. "CRYSTAL PALACE / LUPE & EVANS / LOUISVILLE KY", Kentucky, ca. 1855 - 1865, yellowish lime green, 7 3/8"h, smooth base, applied blob type mouth. Some overall light outside stain but no damage. Extremely rare, one of two known examples

 

[Oldtimer]

# 187, what a bottle.
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187. "STILLMAN & BREEN / MEMPHIS, TENN", Tennessee, ca. 1860 - 1865, deep tobacco amber barrel, 7 3/4"h, smooth base, applied mouth. A pinhead size flake is off the edge of a lower barrel stave, and a few light scratches. Identical in form to the ‘Nelson’s Old Bourbon Maysville, KY’ and rare W. Wolf, Pittsburgh’ barrel. Recently found in an antique shop in Eastern Texas. This bottle is currently unique, even the Memphis diggers have admittedly never found even a piece of one.

 

[rraack]

Hey, how could I have forgotten about #187 ? I recognized its similarity to the ‘Nelson’s Old Bourbon Maysville, KY’ the moment I saw it without having to read the description. I agree with you, Oldtimer it's a fantastic looking bottle, both in rarity and form!

 

[JOETHECROW]

This one...

P.S. rraack,...I liked the Berlin's bitters too. There was one other six sided med,....kind of honey amber, tall like a bitters, but I looked at every bottle, and my eyes are too tired to go back and see what it was....There are some real nice bottles there!

 

[truedigr]

I got pretty lucky finding that bottle this year. Best investment of $20 I ever made. In 20 years of digging and collecting, this is definitely the best bottle I will ever have owned. Kind of like the highlight of my bottle career. I'm very happy where it is at, and can't wait to see what it will do. Robert

 

[JOETHECROW]

I'll say Robert,...Last I looked it was at 5000.oo!

 

[truedigr]

I often wonder what would have happened if someone bought the bottle and just stuck it on their shelf. It would probably still be an unknown bottle for many more years.

 

[Oldtimer]

Holy cow, I love this place. Where else can you discuss a random thing and have the owner chime in?

If I were you, I'd keep that one for the duration.

I did about the same thing with my Guild D25M dreadnought acoustic...found it in the trunk of a friends junk car....paid him $20 for it...and it's true value turned out to be in the $600-$800 range...I play it every day with a big smile...

 

[truedigr]

I only collect Texas bottles. This bottle deserves a great home in a great collection. I like the thought that I may have found someone's pride & joy of their collection. This bottle deserves to be with a great collection. I'm more of a bottle hunter than a bottle collector. Makes me happy when I find bottles for people's collections. The thrill of the hunt is what I enjoy the most.