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Greentown glass Cord Drapery pattern cobalt blue compote and flat lid

Greentown glass Cord Drapery pattern cobalt blue compote and flat lid

The Greentown Glass Museum held a consignment auction featuring about 220 lots of glassware on Oct. 10, 2009, at Greentown, Ind. Conducted by Otto Auction Service, the sale was the museum’s sixth fundraiser in five years.

Generally, items from one collection make up the bulk of each sale, while three or four other consignors add to the mix. This sale had eight consignors.

“None of the glass is from the museum,” stressed Gary Buckley, who helped coordinate the event for the museum.

“The quality was good overall, but there were fewer rarities than in past sales,” said Buckley. The top price of the auction was $700. There was no buyer’s premium.

Patterns and colors that continue to attract attention, according to Buckley, are Holly in golden agate, Cord Drapery in cobalt-blue and Teardrop & Tassel in amber. “If you get something rare in the animal dishes and toothpicks, they sell very well too,” he added.

“The rare stuff is bringing the top dollar it’s ever brought. The common pieces haven’t been bringing as good a dollar as they were in the past. It seems that’s fallen off a little bit.”

For that reason, the auction was a boon for beginning collectors, who were able to pick up some entry- and intermediate-level pieces of glassware at reasonable prices.

Much of the glassware went to four bidders. “One of them was an established collector, but the other three were pretty much beginning, early collectors, and they bought a lot of stuff,” said Buckley. “It made our sale.”

Patterns for which interest has waned include Leaf Bracket and Cactus. “Some of those pieces don’t bring what they were bringing.”

While the recession isn’t solely to blame, the downturned American economy is still affecting the market. As Buckley noted, “If people are having a hard time making their house payments, they aren’t going to spend it on glassware.”

-Don Johnson, Editor, p4A.com

Andrew Wyeth painting, Frozen Mill Race at Chadds Ford with Wyeths Dog, Nell Gwyn

Andrew Wyeth painting, Frozen Mill Race at Chadd's Ford with Wyeth's Dog, Nell Gwyn

Offered at Northeast Auction‘s New Hampshire Fall Auction on October 25, 2009 are two watercolor paintings by American realist painter Andrew Wyeth. The first, Frozen Mill Race at Chadd’s Ford, depicts Wyeth’s yellow Labrador Retriever Nell Gwyn. It’s carries an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. The second a shoreline scene, Off Caldwell’s Island, is estimated at $100,000 to $200,000. Both paintings are part of the Collection of Margaret Scott Carter & Winthrop L. Carter.

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An Izannah Walker cloth Child doll, image courtesy of Skinner

An Izannah Walker cloth child doll, image courtesy of Skinner

Skinner in Boston hosts the Richard Wright Collection of Rare & Important Dolls October 10, 2009. Richard Wright, an antique dealer and appraiser who often appeared on Antiques Roadshow, owned and operated Richard Wright Antiques & Dolls, in Birchrunville, PA. His vast collection includes early dolls like this circa 1820 German portrait-type carved wood lady doll estimated $40,000 to $60,000. American dolls are also represented including a highly sought after cloth doll by Izannah Walker. The circa 1860 small child doll is hand painted and wears a handmade cotton dress and brown leather boots. Izannah Walker was a Rhode Island doll maker who’s work resembles 19th century folk portraits. It’s estimated to bring $10,000 to $15,000.

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-Jennifer Castle, Editor, p4A.com

Porcelain ironing sprinkler bottle, black and white cat with green marble eyes

Ironing sprinkler bottle, cat with green marble eyes; image courtesy of Morphy Auctions

Morphy Auctions October 2009 sale will be held the 8th, 9th, & 10th in Denver, Pennsylvania. 500 washing-related items from the Shapiro Collection will be sold including vintage washing machines, clothespins and approximately 30 porcelain ironing sprinkler bottles.

Having fallen out of use with the invention of the steam iron and plastic spray bottles, sprinkler bottles were filled with water and used to dampen clothes before ironing. Often a Coke bottle was used with a special sprinkler cork top, but decorative bottles were also produced especially for sprinkling. My own mother recalls my grandmother sprinkling bed sheets and my grandfather’s shirts. She would them roll them up and put them in the basement refrigerator so they wouldn’t mildew and the water could diffuse evenly. Later she took them out to iron resulting in perfectly wrinkle-free clothes! Sprinkler bottles came in many fun and now collectible forms- animals such as cats, elephants, roosters, human forms like this weary housewife, as well as other forms like this iron-shaped bottle.

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-Jennifer Castle, Editor, p4A.com

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