Cranberry bowl bride’s basket brings $16,000; art glass rules Kansas auction

Beautiful bride's basket boasting a strong cranberry glass bowl with dentil style edge ($16,000).

A bride’s basket boasting a strong cranberry glass bowl with dentil style edge, set atop a Simpson Hall & Miller figural stand with a Kate Greenway-style cherub holding an umbrella and standing near a dog, sold for $16,000 at the April 30, 2011 sale of the single-owner lifetime collection of Bill and Sue Frick of Missouri, dedicated collectors.

The bride’s basket, measuring 14 ¼ inches by 8 ½ inches, was the top lot of more than 500 pieces of art glass. The auction was conducted by Woody Auction of Douglass, Kan. About 130 people attended the sale. Online bidding was facilitated by Proxibid.com. “We had some determined bidders at this sale who engaged in a battle of wills over many of the lots, and that helped drive hammer prices to nice, healthy levels,” said Jason Woody of Woody Auction. “We were expecting gross sales to total $160,000 or $170,000, but when the final gavel came down we tallied over $240,000. It was quite the event. The Fricks were happy.”

Mt. Washington Art Glass features Victorian art glass produced from the 1880s into the early 1900s in New Bedford, Mass.

Available at shop.collect.com

Of the 130 or so people in the room, about 70 had bidder numbers. Another 170 people registered to bid online, while between 30 and 35 absentee bids were registered. Another factor contributing to the sale’s success was the fact that it was an absolute auction. Everything sold, regardless of price. That, and the desirable styles and colors of art glass the Fricks collected.

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted are hammer, exclusive of a sliding commission structure. There is no buyer’s premium at a Woody Auction.

Only one other lot topped the $10,000 mark. It was an extremely rare four-piece signed Daum Nancy tab-handle Four Seasons salt dip set that soared to $10,500. The miniature set, one of the finest and rarest ever offered by Woody Auction, came in the original “Mon Guerre, F. Duplomb Sucseur, Dijon” display box. Each salt dip, 1 ¾ inches tall, showed a seasonal scene.

Two items brought identical prices of $9,500. One was a rare 11 ½ inch pickle castor condiment set – a deep cranberry coinspot insert with cranberry coinspot ball-shaped salt and pepper shakers, set on an elaborate aurora silverplate frame. The other was a mother of pearl bride’s bowl centerpiece with blue satin diamond quilted deeply ribbed bowl and berry decor.

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