Washington portrait flask demands $28,080 at Norman C. Heckler & Co. A vintage American Calabash flask showing a tree-in-leaf bust portrait of George Washington (circa 1845-1860) sold for $28,080 in a mainly online auction held Sept. 1-14 by Norman C. Heckler & Co.
amber “Dr. Stephen Jewett’s Celebrated Health” bitters bottle, probably from the Stoddard glass house (Stoddard, N.H., circa 1840-1860) soared to $5,265; and a small Pitkin type flask, probably made by Pitkin Glass Works (Manchester, Conn., circa 1783-1830), in great condition, made $3,218.
Medicines featured a “Phelps / Arcanum” bottle (Worcester, Mass., circa 1840-1860), cylindrical, with indented panels and a brilliant bubbly yellowish olive color ($3,510); and a “Rushton & Aspinall” (‘No. 86 William St. & 110 Broadway, New York’) medicine bottle, probably made by Willington Glass Works in West Willington, Conn., circa 1830-1850 ($4,973).
Rounding out the sale’s top lots was a cylindrical Pitkin type inkwell, ribbed and swirled to the left, with 36 ribs, and probably made by the Pitkin Glass Works (Manchester, Conn., circa 1773-1830), with a deep yellowish green coloration and small, standing 1 ½ inches tall ($1,989).
Norman C. Heckler & Co. has just concluded the first two sessions of a three-session sale dedicated to the lifetime single-owner bottle and flask collection of Tom McCandless. Over the course of 40 years, Mr. McCandless accumulated the very best of flasks, bitters, whiskeys, medicines, milks, sodas, fruit jars, pickles and more, which he kept at his New Jersey home.
Session III (122 lots) will go online Jan. 18, 2012 and conclude Feb. 1, 2012. After that, Norman C. Heckler & Co. will have another auction with a strong antiques and Americana component, slated for Mar. 1, 2012. Watch the website for details: www.hecklerauction.com.
Norman C. Heckler & Company was founded in 1987 as a full-service auction and appraisal firm. Today it is the foremost auction house for antique glass. In October 2010, the firm set a record for an antique glass bottle at auction when a General Jackson eagle portrait flask sold for $176,670. In addition to glass Heckler’s also offers early American antique objects.
Norman C. Heckler & Company is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To inquire about consigning a single piece or an entire collection, you may call them at (860) 974-1634; or, you can e-mail them at info@hecklerauction.com. To learn more about the company’s upcoming calendar of auction events, please log on to www.hecklerauction.com.
