Galle Vase Comes Out of Storage to Lead at Green Valley

Green Valley Auctions, Inc., Mt. Crawford, Virginia

by Walter C. Newman

Green Valley Auctions held its sixth annual cataloged winter glass and lighting auction January 25-27 at its facilities in Mt. Crawford, Virginia. The sale offered 1860 cataloged lots as well as a separate session of boxed and tray lots. A handful of very large consigned collections made up much of the sale.

One varied collection from a Minnesota estate contained 390 lots, while several other 100-plus-lot consignments crossed the block throughout the three days. The sale also included deaccessioned property from the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Over recent years, it seems that large collections, or portions of large collections, are finding their way to auction with increasing frequency. Green Valley is certainly getting its share of those consignments. In November 2007 Green Valley sold the 40-year 1100-plus-piece cup plate collection of Anne and the late Leon Powell. That prominent collection combined to sell for more than $167,000.

The top-selling lot of this Green Valley sale came from one of the well-known consignors, the Fenton Art Glass Company of Williamstown, West Virginia. Fenton is best known for its iridescent carnival glass. The piece that attracted attention at Green Valley, however, was a wheel-carved marquetry vase by Emile Gallé that was the property of Fenton (est. $2000/3000). The 8¼" high vase brought $20,340 (includes buyer's premium) after spirited bidding.

In all, 212 lots of Fenton's property were offered. The recent trials and tribulations of the Fenton Art Glass Company have been chronicled in numerous antiques-related publications. A brief recap of recent happenings is as follows. In June 2007 Fenton officials acknowledged that the company was in serious financial trouble. In August 2007 an announcement was made that the company would "wind down" its operations, and its doors would close after more than 100 years of operation.

That announcement spurred significant interest in the company, and many individuals and organizations worked quickly to keep the company in operation. Those efforts were rewarded, and in the months that followed, Fenton was able to restructure its debt and is now able to remain in operation.

When contacted, Fenton historian James Measell stated that the company is now "right sized" with approximately 120 employees, and it intends to move ahead, albeit by manufacturing a smaller volume of items and distributing them through a smaller group of dealers than had been the case. "We are moving ahead one season at a time," stated Measell.

Along with the changes and restructuring came questions regarding the fate of the Fenton Art Glass Museum and its collection. The museum is located at the Fenton factory and contains more than 2000 items representing the history of Fenton and related glass manufacturing companies. According to Measell, in spite of the recent turmoil, the museum remains open, and the collection is intact.

Some Fenton property is being sold, though. Since the 1940's, the company has accumulated examples of glass, ceramics, and metalwork separate from the pieces that were gathered for the museum collection. These collected items were used as inspiration for Fenton designs or for adaptations that might be incorporated into Fenton's production techniques. Although many of the individual pieces are themselves museum quality, the inspirational pieces were stored separately and were never part of the Fenton Art Glass Museum display. In its efforts to raise funds during the current period of transition, Fenton has decided to sell many of the stored items, and it is from that group that the items offered at Green Valley came.

The consigned items ran the gamut of makers and forms. Most segments of collector glass were represented, ranging from mixed lots, to examples from Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, to animal pattern dishes, to pieces by Mt. Washington, Northwood, and Gallé.

Green Valley and Fenton are pleased with how the items were received, and more pieces will be offered at future sales.

The January glass sale was the third event since Green Valley began to sell in real time over the Internet through Live Auctioneers and eBay Live Auctions. To this observer it appears that the addition of this sales platform has been a very smooth transition. Commenting after the sale, Green Valley's Jeffrey Evans stated that he is pleased with how things are going. There are some additional hands-on requirements related to shipping and record keeping, but the Green Valley staff has accepted those new facts of their lives.

Some of the Internet buyers are individuals who had previously bid by telephone or as an absentee. Evans noted that although some of his regular absentee and telephone bidders are still using those methods, they are also following the sale live on line and bidding on bargains as they come up. One encouraging observation is that at this most recent sale, nearly 20% of the Internet buyers were new to Green Valley, and new clients are what all businesses want—especially antiques-related businesses.

For further information, contact Green Valley Auctions at (540) 434-4260 or visit (www.greenvalleyauctions.com).

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