Heard it through the Grapevine

Earliest Image of an Antique Bottle Collection?

This image was submitted by AB&GC reader, glass historian and writer, Ian Simmonds. It is believed to be one of the earliest known images of an antique bottle collection.

Ian writes: Please find attached one of the earliest photos of a bottle collection that I am aware of. It is from the March 5, 1913 sale of Part 1 of the Alexander W. Drake collection at Anderson Galleries in New York. Anderson Galleries became Parke-Bernet before being bought by Sothebys. The image is from the catalog for the auction. There are a few other images that show parts of the collection.

It would be fun to see who can come up with the earliest image of a collection of American bottles, or containing American bottles. The Drake collection contained a mix. Ian adds: Many bottles were literally hanging from threads!

Editor’s note: Thank you Ian. It is a very interesting image. It is a fascinating mix of early bottles, flasks and blown glass.

Accidents Happen …

But let’s hope not to glass collectors

By Ralph Finch

So, you are going to buy something from an auction house? Or sell something through an auction house? Cross your fingers. The big U.S. glass auction houses treat their consignments with kid gloves, but, hey, things happen.

In more than fifty years of collecting I have only sent two pieces of glass out for cleaning. One was a rare pint fruit jar with a little stain, and it came back looking like it had been sand-blasted! The other was a Bust of Columbia Liberty Cap Eagle flask with a tiny spot of haze behind Columbia’s face. (And the flask was one of the few items I ever bought as a real bargain, when a Detroit auction house sold it for $30 after marking it as a repro, when it was the real McCoy.) It came back from the cleaner in a body bag. For years I kept the dozen pieces as a souvenir that bad things can happen.

And it can happen with the bigger names, too. We were going to bid on an incredible demijohn with a massive sea battle painted on it. It had a crack, we knew, but its beauty still made it very desirable. However, by the time it came up for auction it looked like someone had kicked in the side. Those ships painted may have survived a fiery sea battle, but not a clumsy auction house staffer.

Things happen. A famous accident known as the ‘Lucian Freud’s Untitled Oil Painting’ incident happened in 2010, when a small still life created by Lucian Freud in the 1960s arrived at Sotheby’s London. However, this work never made it to the auction block. Its crate was accidentally placed with others that were meant to be thrown away, and it was put into a crushing machine. The artwork was valued at over $100,000. If you are a *glutten for punishment, you can go on the internet (www.widewalls or YouTube) and, since most museums have cameras, watch clumsy (or stupid) people, out-of-control children, anarchists or religious zealots destroy expensive antiques.

(*That’s the same headline the Detroit News put over a story I wrote about rating really cheap hamburgers, aka greasebombs or sliders.)

FYI: Lucian Michael Freud, 1922-2011, was a British painter and draughtsman, specializing in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century portraitists. Some of his works have been valued into the millions. (Which is really strange, since he seemed to have a passion for painting really homely women.)

Editor’s note: Have you condemned a collectible to the trash (or, as the British say, a “dustbin”)? Please share the sad stories with our readers. Send them to me at rfinch@twmi.rr.com

Heard it through the Grapevine

The New Bedford Museum of Glass is now located in the historic James Arnold Mansion.

New Bedford Museum of Glass is Now Open

The New Bedford Museum of Glass in New Bedford, Mass., opened its doors on Sunday, April 18. This much anticipated opening is in their new location, the historic and beautiful James Arnold Mansion, 427 County Street, New Bedford, Mass.

The museum’s website states that: The NBMOG collection consists of 7,000 objects documenting more than 3,000 years of glassmaking history. It covers many regions and periods, from ancient to contemporary, with special emphasis on the city of New Bedford, Mass., celebrated in the late 19th century as the “Art Glass Headquarters of the Country.” Also included in the collection are many antique glassblowing tools, molds and even a 6-foot high glass press!

Per their website, another feature is a display titled “Our Nation’s Heritage in Glass.” It is on display at the New Bedford City Hall, 133 William St., New Bedford. It is the largest public display of American historical glass in the country. The collection includes more than 500 examples of glass with decorative motifs relating directly to American political and cultural history. Most of the items on view were donated to the Museum in 1999 by the late Mrs. Warren P. Tingley, a student and collector of historical glass. Special features of the exhibit include 19thcentury political campaign glass, glass from the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and the 1893 Columbian Exposition, Bicentennial glass, and glass commemorating American historical events.

For more information, please call 508.984.1666 or email knelson@nbmog. org. Interested persons can visit their website at www.nbmog.org.

Waiting to get into the museum. D