Heckler Sells More Flasks from Lane Collection at 100th Absentee Auction

This “extremely rare” (McKearin description of 1941) decorative pint flask (GX-25) by the Pitkin Glass Works, Manchester, Connecticut, 1815-30, was the highest-priced piece in the sale. The vessel is medium yellow-olive color with medallions and diamond-shaped diapering, sheared mouth, and pontil scar. A highly collectible flask and probably the rarest of the Jared Spencer group, it has beautiful color and strong embossing and is in fine condition. Provenance includes the Paul Richards collection. It sold just within estimate for $111,150 (est. $100,000/200,000).

One of two known examples, this olive amber one-and-a-half-pint Cornucopia pictorial flask (McKearin GIII-3) with sheared mouth was probably manufactured between 1830 and 1850 at the Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks in Keene, New Hampshire. The flask is in fine condition and brought $17,550.

One of the great Connecticut rarities from a famous glass house, this historical flask (GII-57) has an American eagle and “J.P.F” on the obverse and a cornucopia and “CONN.” on reverse. It was made 1815-30 by the Pitkin Glass Works of Manchester, Connecticut. The yellow-olive pint flask has a 1¾" crack from the top of the mouth, through the shoulder, toward the eagle’s head, and a 3/8" potstone crack in the corrugated ribbing. The flask is crude, but beautifully marked, and is considered by Heckler as “one of those gutsy, rare, early, and unusual forms.” Provenance includes the Robert Mebane collection. It sold above estimate for $25,740.

This brilliant light yellow pint flask with olive-tone beads and pearls and decorative diapering pattern (GX-26) was also made by the Pitkin Glass Works, 1815-30. The flask features a sheared mouth and pontil scar. It is extremely rare and has good embossing and a light color. Provenance includes the Edmund and Jayne Blaske collection. It sold close to high estimate at $78,390.

One of the most sought-after items in the flask group and the goal of advanced collectors for near to a century, this extremely rare decorative pint flask (GX-24) features “Jared/ Spencer” on the obverse and “Manchester/ Con.” on the reverse in medallions above diamond-shaped diapering. By the Pitkin Glass Works, 1815-30, the flask has beautiful light yellow-olive color with a sheared mouth and pontil scar and good embossing. Provenance includes the Dr. Charles Osgood collection. It sold at the low end of the $100,000/200,000 estimate for $109,980, which is still good enough to rank it the third-highest-priced historical flask sold at auction.

This extremely rare double eagle historical flask (GII-144), probably from Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks, Keene, New Hampshire, 1815-30, is one of only two recorded examples. The bright light green flask has vertical ribbing and an eagle and medallion on either side with strong embossing. It is in fine condition and features a tooled round collared mouth and pontil scar. The other recorded flask is located at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. It sold well below the low estimate for $43,290 (est. $75,000/150,000).

An extremely rare historical Log Cabin bottle embossed with “North Bend” and “Tippecanoe” is probably by the Mount Vernon Glass Works of Vernon, New York, circa 1840. The GVII-1 pattern flask has a deep emerald green color, an applied sloping collared mouth with ring, and a tubular pontil scar. The bottle is 5" high with a 3/16" hole in the lower left base corner on the “Tippecanoe” side. Of the few examples known, most have some damage, with the corner hole being the damage most frequently noted; this is often associated with a mold flaw. The provenance includes the Edmund and Jayne Blaske collection. The flask sold for $38,610.

This historical pint-size flask (GX-21), 1820-40, probably by Bakewell, Page, and Bakewell Manufacturers, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has “The American/ System” and a steamboat with an American flag on the obverse and the inscription “Use Me But Do Not Abuse Me” and a sheaf of rye on the reverse. In clear light green with a sheared mouth and pontil scar, it is one of the great rarities in American historical flasks. This exceptional example has strong embossing and brilliant color, and is in great condition. Provenance includes the Dr. Charles Osgood collection. It realized $30,420.

One of the great Coventry bottles, this half-pint Crossed Keys Masonic historical flask (GIV-30), probably by Coventry Glass Works of Coventry, Connecticut, 1815-30, has an olive-yellow color, with the usual sheared mouth and pontil scar, strong embossing, and a ¾" horizontal manufacturer’s hairline fissure between the two uppermost star points. Provenance includes Sam Laidacker and the Edmund and Jayne Blaske collection. It brought $22,230.

This “Lafayette” bust half-pint flask with a semi-wreath of laurel leaves features a Masonic arch and emblems and 13 six-pointed stars surrounding the arch. The mold and bottle were probably made at the Mount Vernon Glass Works, Vernon, New York, between 1820 and 1830. The light apple green flask, with a sheared mouth and pontil scar, is still the only known example. It is in fine condition, with strong embossing. The pattern is listed in that indispensable reference book for glass and bottle collectors, American Glass (1941) by George and Helen McKearin, as GI-89a. The provenance includes the collections of Robert Hall and Robert Mebane. It sold within estimate for $47,970.