Glass Works Auctions will hold two online-only auctions from one catalog in November. Auction #134, “The Colors of Fall” auction, opens Monday, Nov. 4, and closes Monday Nov. 11. It will feature the first offering of the Don Spangler collection of Midwestern glass.
Auction #135, “The Big Southern Round-Up” auction, opens Monday, Nov. 18, and closes Monday, Nov. 25. It will feature part one of the collection of the late Ralph van Brocklin.
All bidding will be handled through the Glass Works Auction website (www.glswrk-auction.com).
About 25 of the 335 lots in Auction #134 will come from the Don Spangler collection. Parts two and three of the collection will be offered in subsequent auctions in 2020. From his home in Dayton, Ohio, Spangler became aware of the various forms and colors of Midwestern glass blown at the early Ohio glass houses near where he lived. He attended most of the bottle shows in the area and also Pennsylvania from the late 1960s to the early ’80s, including the famous Guernsey Barn show in Pennsylvania.
Expected Auction #134 highlights include a Washington/Taylor “Firecracker” flake amber bottle, one of only three known in that color (est. $35,000-$45,000); a Washington-Tree calabash flask in a very rare cobalt blue color (est. $12,000-$16,000); an Eagle/Cluster of Grapes aqua flask with a rare applied handle (est. $3,500-$4,500); and a freeblown sugar bowl with matching creamer in amber, Zanesville Glass Works, ca. 1820-35 (est. $35,000-$45,000).
Additional expected top lots from Auction #134 include a pattern moulded bottle made by the New Geneva Glass Works, ca. 1810-25 (est. $2,500-$3,500); a Brown’s Indian Herb Bitters figural Indian Princess bottle in a rare green color (est. $8,000-$12,000); and a pattern moulded chestnut form Grandfather flask, (est. 2,500-$3,500).
At the many shows Spangler attended, he made friends with a number of early collectors and dealers, all of them specializing in early Ohio glass. Some of the bottles in his collection were acquired from Hal Wagner, Harry Fry, Bob Wise, Walt Douglas and Paul Ballentine. Spangler was also a regular at Garth’s.
In 1975, Spangler attended both sessions of the renowned Charles Gardner collection that was handled by Skinner’s. Several pieces in his collection are from the Gardner collection. “Don Spangler’s collection houses many fine examples from every early Ohio glass-making district and includes important pieces in both color and pattern,” said James Hagenbuch, president and owner of Glass Works Auctions. “His collection also offers a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire outstanding examples from one of the last of the early Ohio collections.”
Auction #135 will contain lots 336-476, with the headliner being bottles from the collection of the late Ralph van Brocklin. An expected star lot is the M.A. Micklejohn N.O. / Washington Internal Remedy for Rheumatism bottle, made in New Orleans, ca. 1840-60, and boasting a deep olive-green color. It should bring $10,000-$15,000.
Other Auction #135 offerings will include a General Frank Cheatham Bitters bottle (General Cheatham was a Confederate general during the Civil War), amber in color (est. $6,000-$8,000), and a rare D. Kirkpatrick & Co. (Chattanooga, Tenn.) eagle embossed flask (est. $2,500-$3,500).
Glass Works Auctions maintains offices in East Greenville, Pa., and a gallery in nearby Pennsburg. Both are located north and west of Philadelphia.
For more information, call 215-679-5849, email info@glswrk-auction.com, or visit www.glswrk-auction.com.