Brilliant Colors and Crisp Molds Drive Heckler & Company's Event

March 18th, 2015


Having both an eagle and a sunburst, this historical flask (GII-7) in a medium bluish aquamarine and boasting a well-defined mold impression sold for $14,040 (est. $4000/8000).

The selling point for this “G.W. Stone’s / Liquid / Cathartic & / Family Physic / Lowell Mass” medicine bottle was the fact that it was from a glasshouse in Stoddard, New Hampshire. In medium yellow amber with an olive tone, this bottle had three embossed and indented panels and brought $18,720 (est. $6000/12,000).


“For Pike’s Peak” - “Ceredo,” a prospector, and an eagle decorated this American historical flask in brilliant yellow green. A final price of $4388 (est. $1200/2400) took this flask home.


A series of six textile scenes (one shown), titled “Ode To The Drunk,” presented on approximately 21" square pieces of cotton mounted on masonite, depicted stages of alcoholism. Once part of the Charles B. Gardner collection, the series sold for $7020 (est. $1500/3000).

A cylindrical medium yellowish-forest-green mineral water bottle marked “Lynch & Clarke / New York” did well at $4388 (est. $800/1600). Heckler stated that the mold was rare and this color had been unknown to the auction house prior to this example’s being consigned by the Strong.


Marked “General Washington” and “J.R. Laird. / SC Pitt.,” this portrait flask featuring a bust and eagle made $5850 (est. $2500/5000). In a bluish aquamarine, this flask was produced by John Robinson’s Stourbridge Flint Glass Works, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sometime between 1820 and 1840.


Marked “S. M’Kee” for Samuel McKee and Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this 1845-60 scroll flask in aquamarine brought $5850 (est. $1500/3000).

Norman C. Heckler & Company, Woodstock Valley, Connecticut

Photos courtesy Norman C. Heckler & Company

Norman C. Heckler & Company, Woodstock Valley, Connecticut, has been gathering and offering for sale premier pieces of early glass, bottles, and flasks since the company was founded in 1987. And the premier absentee auction 120 that closed on March 18 was no different.

This sale did not offer a singular collection; actually it was a small event of just 94 lots of mostly historical glass bottles that were put up for grabs, and early glass enthusiasts jumped in with gusto.

Heckler & Company is where collectors of early historical bottles come to get the best. The top lot of the auction is a great example. An 1820-40 double eagle historical flask from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in spectacularly bright yellow-green glass with olive tones, sold for $57,330 (includes buyer’s premium), within the $40,000/80,000 estimate.

“This GII-5 is a rare mold,” Norman Heckler Sr. stated, referring to the label used to identify this flask in the 1978 reference guide American Bottles & Flasks by Helen McKearin and Kenneth Wilson. “There are relatively few of these bottles in any color, and this was an exceptional color.”

A circa 1840 “North Bend” – “Tippecanoe” bottle in the shape of a cabin was thought to be a piece produced by the Mount Vernon Glass Works, Vernon, New York. “I’ve seen about a half-dozen of these bottles, and most have damage,” Heckler stated, adding, “It is assumed that there might have been a problem with the mold, that the bottles might have come out of the mold damaged, though there are, I believe, two examples that do not have damage.”

The example offered by Heckler also was damaged; it has a ¼" hole in the upper right corner of the “Tippecanoe” side as well as cracks in the lower roof and right side, and a 7/8" fissure in the mouth and neck of the bottle.

Speaking of the neck, this bottle’s long “stovepipe” neck is thought to be unique for the cabin. Done in a rich emerald green and having an applied round collared mouth, this 5 5/8" tall bottle sold for $25,740 (est. $20,000/40,000).

It is interesting to note that this cabin bottle came from the Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York. The Strong brought this bottle to auction to benefit the museum’s collections fund. A historical liquor bottle is not necessarily something one would expect to come from the Strong, but the museum sold several outstanding bottles at Heckler’s March event.

“I believe the Strong has had these bottles for years, a gift left to them,” Heckler explained. “They might have been on display at one time, but the bottles were currently in storage at the museum. It was decided they should be sold in order to raise funds that could be used for the museum.”

A “Suffolk Bitters,” also marked “Philbrook & Tucker / Boston,” in the form of a pig was another piece from the Strong. The 1860-80 figural bitters bottle was bright golden yellow with olive tone and 10 1/8" long. This bitters had a smooth base so it sat level, and its exterior was in wonderful condition. It realized $4095 (est. $2000/4000).

Another consignment from the Strong that greatly surpassed its presale estimate of $400/800 was a medicine bottle marked “Long’s / Standard / Malaria / Cure Co / Rochester / N.Y.” This 1860-80 bottle is decidedly plain in comparison to others as it is a medium amber glass. However, the 9½" tall bottle is rare, according to Heckler. The bottle mimicked the better-known “Warner’s” bottles and sold for $2574.

Another bottle in a traditional medium yellow-amber color with an olive tone, a “G.W. Stone’s / Liquid / Cathartic & / Family Physic / Lowell Mass” medicine bottle that realized $18,720 (est. $6000/12,000), did so because of its manufacturer, a glasshouse in Stoddard, New Hampshire. “Anything from Stoddard is highly sought after,” Heckler said. It was an 8 7/8" high rectangular bottle, with beveled corners and three embossed indented panels, from 1860-70. “The mold, the size, and the condition drove this bottle’s price,” Heckler stated. “Many collectors want these.”

Heckler’s March event also included two eagle flasks. A GII-7 historical flask, a rare mold featuring an eagle on one side and a sunburst on the other, from the Pittsburgh district, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1820-40, was another desirable lot and made $14,040 (est. $4000/8000). It was a bluish-aquamarine color.

“There are three molds with eagles that are similar,” Heckler explained. “They are the GII-7 that has an eagle on one side and a sunburst on the other. The GII-8 with a medallion on the opposite side, we will be selling that example in our September auction. And there is the GII-9, which features the eagle holding a snake in its beak.”

Heckler had a GII-9 flask at this March event. The flask, nicknamed the “Snake of Corruption,” was an almost colorless glass with just a hint of vaseline tint, and it realized $11,700 (est. $8000/16,000).

“These three flasks are different in that they are very fat from front to back,” Heckler stated. “They also feature huge beads of glass that transfer the bottle along the mold seam.”

And while historical flasks and bottles were the main offerings, this March event also offered collectors the opportunity to purchase a series of six textile scenes titled “Ode To The Drunk.” Each cotton scene measured 21" x 21½", quite large in size, and was mounted on a masonite backing. The scenes told the story of how one might become an alcoholic, beginning with a young lad stealing sips of hard cider, which then led to social drinking. Soon the man is addicted to alcohol, and it begins affecting his life. His clothes are in tatters in the scene where he is drinking at a bar, then he is lying passed-out in the street and begins to have nightmares, and the last scene shows his wife and child crying by his grave.

“These scenes came from the Charles B. Gardner collection, a name that is magic in glass collecting, so I think that association helped this lot’s strong final bid,” Heckler stated. Estimated at $1500/3000, the series sold for $7020.

Heckler was very pleased with the outcome of this auction, where of the 94 lots offered only three went unsold, and many sold within or above estimate. Norman C. Heckler & Company hosts live monthly auctions as well as premier absentee auctions such as this March event. Heckler’s next premier auction will take place in September.

For more information, contact Norman C. Heckler & Company at (860) 974-1634 or via the website (www.hecklerauction.com).

A skull shape was an appropriate form for this figural poison bottle marked “Poison” and “Pat Appl’d For.” In medium cobalt blue and having a tooled flared mouth and crossed bones on the base, this bottle also read “Pat June 26th 1894.” It sold for $3218 (est. $1000/2000).


Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2015 Maine Antique Digest

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