Like most collectible areas, the glass market is slowly recovering from tough market conditions. Prices of smalls were off 20 to 40 percent because of the recession. Like the real estate market, glass experienced a bubble of unrealistically high prices. In this excerpt we look at which segments of glass collecting show strength and why the market is less regionalized than it was before the crash.
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For almost 50 years, more than a dozen century-old buildings in the farming community of Scotch Grove, Iowa, have guarded a time capsule. Recently, representatives from two auction companies opened the doors of these 16 buildings to find hundreds of thousands of retail, wholesale and service items still on shelves and floors — some still in their original packaging and store displays. The discoveries will be sold Sept. 15-17, 2011.
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Despite plenty of competitors, Lifetime’s new "Picker Sisters" has found a niche offering a vintage-centric show from a feminine perspective. In an exclusive interview with Antique Trader, star Tanya McQueen talks about the show and how her rural Texas upbringing helps her turn farm scraps into Hollywood ‘junque.’
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The big bats in the flask collectors league were hot during a July 25, 2011 Internet and phone auction of nearly 400 early flasks, bottles and stoneware. Among the most sought-after items in the auction were three 1840-1850 flasks from the Louisville, Ky., glass works. Lot 59, a marked "Louisville Glass Works" scroll flask in a brilliant olive-yellow color was the highlight of the sale. Estimated at $6,000 to 8,000, it hammering at $31,050.
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One reader asks if their Fish Bitters bottle is the same as a version that brought $8,500 at auction last year. Vintage and collectible bottle expert and author Michael Pollack says the fish-shaped bitters bottle is a common form throughout modern bottle history. Unfortunately the owner’s find is actually a reproduction wine bottle issued by in 1973.
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A huge, private collection offered this month carries everything from vintage autos and advertising to diverse selections of railroad memorabilia. A nod to the sale’s diversity: bidders will even have their choice of two copper liquor stills. Some of the many petroliana offerings include oil cans from Esso, Imperial, Valvoline, Texaco, Illinois, Sinclair, Gulf, Sears (full), Saphire, Artex and more.
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CINCINNATI – Cowan’s has announced its first auction dedicated solely to Asian art. The auction will be held over two days, Aug. 26-27, in Cowan’s salesroom. The auction will feature more than 790 lots including a wide selection of ivory, … Read More +
Antique Trader shows one reader that his attic find of a vintage View-Master and Junior Merchant tin bank, while colorful and interesting, have more value as display items than big-ticket collectibles. View-Masters have been in continuous production since 1939, when Sawyer’s of Portland, Ore., first introduced the View-Master at the New York World’s Fair. The earliest viewers (known as the Model A viewer) are marked "PAT.APPLD.FOR"; they are made from lightweight Kodak Tenite plastic and are prone to warping.
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Glasshouse whimsies – whether they are entirely free-form or created from production glass pieces – are items made by glassworkers to show off their skills. Whimsies, often given the misnomers "end-of-day" or "lunch-hour" pieces, are known as "friggers" in England. They are non-production pieces; other than the use of factory glass, the whimsies have no connection to the glass factory.
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