This Albany Glass Works (N.Y.) Washington portrait flask, made circa 1848-50, is expected to bring between $20,000 and $30,000 at the sale of the late Tom McCandless’s lifetime collection. The sale will be held in three sessions and hosted by Norman C. Heckler & Company.

WOODSTOCK, Conn. – The lifetime, single-owner bottle and flask collection of Tom McCandless—a dedicated collector whose recent passing left a void in the bottle and glass collecting field—will be sold in three sessions by Norman C. Heckler & Company. Over the course of 40 years, McCandless amassed an impressive collection that includes the very best of flasks, bitters, whiskeys, medicines, milks, sodas, fruit jars, pickles and more.

“The quality and the breathtaking range of beautiful colors that exist in Tom’s collection are immediately obvious,” said Norman Heckler, Sr., of Norman C. Heckler & Co. “He was one of the first collectors to focus on color diversity. This is accepted by collectors today as perhaps the most important characteristic of an important glass collection, but Tom was one of the first.”

The collection will be sold in three sessions, with the first (83 lots) to go online on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and conclude with a live auction on Saturday, Oct. 8. Session II (123 lots) will go online Oct. 5 and conclude Oct. 19. Previews will be held by appointment from Sept. 20 to Oct. 18. Session III (122 lots) will go online Jan. 18, 2012 and end Feb. 1, 2012. Previews will be held, by appointment, from Sept. 20, 2011 to Jan. 31, 2012. The very best pieces in the auctions will be in the later sessions, but virtually all bottles are desirable.

The McCandless collection is hitting the market at a time when antique bottles and glass are particularly hot. “They’re on a definite upswing, both in interest and prices realized,” Heckler said. “The demand for flasks and bitters, especially, is insatiable, especially at the high end. The market may be flat for some collectibles, but not so for antique bottles and glass.”

One bottle being offered—an Albany Glass Works (N.Y.) Washington portrait flask, made circa 1848-50—is expected to bring between $20,000 and $30,000. One of McCandless’s personal favorites, the bottle is an exceptional half-pint flask with strong embossing and rare and beautiful coloration (light golden yellow with a deeper golden color neck and base).

Five bottles carry pre-sale estimates of $10,000-$20,000 each. They are as follows:

• An S. C. Brown’s figural herb bitters bottle (Phila., circa 1860-80), triangular, with beveled corners, strong embossing and bright light to medium lime green coloration.
• A Washington bust and sailing frigate portrait flask (Albany Glass Works, N.Y., circa 1848-50), sapphire blue with applied sloping collared mouth—an exceptional pint.
• A General Taylor bust and monumental portrait flask (“Fells Point/Balto”), made circa 1830-50 by Baltimore Glass Works, puce with gray overtone, extremely rare.
• A Washington classical bust portrait flask (Bridgeton Glass Works, N.J. circa 1840-60), yellow with a topaz tone, very rare, with beautiful color and strong embossing.
• A Log Cabin “Hard Cider” historical flask with barrel and plow graphics (Pittsburgh, circa 1820-40), brilliant light blue-green, a great bottle in mold strength and color.

This General Taylor bust and monument portrait flask, “Fells Point / Balto,” circa 1830-50, is expected to bring between $10,000 and $20,000.

This S C Brown’s herb bitters bottle, with a star for the “S,” American-made, circa 1860-80 is another bottle valued in the $10,000-$20,000 range.

A pair of bottles are expected to bring $7,500-$15,000. They are a “Fairview / Works” short-haired bust made by the Wheat Price & Company Mfrs. (Wheeling, W. Va., circa 1820-40), light blue, in fine condition; and a miniature figural bottle in the form of a cannon barrel (R.&G.A. Wright, Phila., circa 1860-80), plum amethyst color, one of only two known.

One bottle with a fascinating history is a cylindrical, applied-seal wine bottle (possibly American, circa 1760, est. $3,000-$6,000). It is marked “PS”—for Peter Stuyvesant, to whom it belonged. He was the great grandson of the last Dutch colonial governor of New Amsterdam. The bottle was dug up from seven feet below the surface of the Stuyvesant Estate in New Jersey.

Several bottles boast incredible striations—the series of ridges, furrows or linear marks on a glass or bottle that create a colorful, streaking effect that is highly desirable to many collectors. Three in particular are expected to generate tremendous bidder interest. They are:

• An eagle historical flask (probably Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks, Keene, N.H., made circa 1820-30), with wide profuse amethyst striations (est. $3,000-$6,000).
• A Washington-Taylor portrait flask (Dyotville Glass Works, Phila., circa 1840-60), rare, with unusual ginger ale coloration with apricot striations (est. $5,000-$10,000).
• Another Washington-Taylor portrait flask, also made by Dyottville circa 1840-60, light to medium blue with deep, profuse horizontal striations (est. $5,000-$10,000).

This hard cider log cabin historical flask with flag, barrel and plow, early Pittsburgh, ca. 1820-40, is the another in the same price range.

This Washington classical bust portrait flask, Bridgeton Glass Works (N.J.), circa 1840-60 is also expected to bring between $10,000 and $20,000.

Other intriguing, mid-price-range bottles will include a hearts and flowers scroll-type quart flask (Midwest America, circa 1845-60), deep pale blue green with a sheared mouth and in great condition (est. $5,000-$10,000); and a diamond daisy pattern molded pocket bottle, made circa 1760-74 by Stiegel’s American Flint Glass Manufactory (Pa., est. $3,500-$7,500)

Rounding out the list of some expected top-lots are a black, glass-handled wine bottle (England, circa 1680-1730), squat and cylindrical with a heavy applied solid handle and deep yellow olive coloration (est. $1,000-$2,000); and an American fancy pickle jar (ca. 1845-60), square with beveled corners and fancy cathedral arches on all four sides (est. $2,000-$4,000).

Collectors new to bottles and glass, or collectors on a budget, should not be put off by the high pre-sale estimates assigned to some pieces, said Heckler, who added that the bottles described represent the best offerings in the catalog—a catalog that comprises around 325 lots. But the fact is, there will be something for just about every budget and every level of collector, from beginner to advanced.

The Session I live auction on Oct. 8 will be part of Norman C. Heckler & Co.’s 12th annual Columbus Day weekend event. From 9-11 a.m., folks will be able to preview the bottles in Session I (which starts at 11 a.m.), then enjoy an old-fashioned tailgate party, an antique bottle and glass swap, previews for important auction Sessions II and III, and a free country cook-out.

Norman C. Heckler & Company was founded in 1987 as a full-service auction and appraisal firm. Today it is the foremost auction house for antique glass. In October 2010, the firm set a record for an antique glass bottle at auction when a General Jackson eagle portrait flask sold for $176,670. In addition to glass Heckler’s also offers early American antique objects.

For more information about these auctions, call 860.974.1634, e-mail to info [at] hecklerauction [dot] com or visit the Norman C. Heckler & Company website.

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WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

My obsession with glass began at the age of 16 with a pink Cherry Blossom Cup & Saucer that I purchased for $ .25!  Over the years as I began a family & it grew, so did my collection!   My husband, who I met when I was 17 jumped right in too!   His philosophy has always been if you like it, buy it!  Ladies you can’t find one better than that.

One of my early goals was to have at least one piece from every pattern which I quickly began.  As my family grew I decided I wanted to bring them into the appreciation of this glass I loved.  I began putting a complete set together for each of them and picked my favorite patterns so that I could share my love with them.  Each special occasion, family dinner or birthday the collections came out and we used them!

In the beginning the children didn’t understand, all they knew was the pink dishes with the cherries on them belonged to the oldest, the green ones that looked the same were for my daughter and the baby got the pink dishes with the holes in the edges!  For years that is what my prized pieces were referred to!  For those that can’t guess the patterns from their expert naming; in order we have Pink & Green Cherry Blossom and Pink Open Lace, also called Lace Edge or Old Colony!  As they got older, the name changed just to “the dishes we can’t put in the dishwasher!”  But whenever we walked through an antique store, or went to a flea market they would run around and look for a piece then run back to find out if we needed that.  The game they would start to play was run back and announces “I found a piece for my sister’s pattern but I’m not going to tell where it is!”  Then she would beg and plead; when the tears were about to begin he’d tell her.  Of course she did her share of getting even with him.  The younger one just ran after them both.  Every Christmas when they found a piece with their father they could hardly sit still until I opened the box.  Most years my daughter couldn’t hold it in and would say Papa didn’t know if you needed this or not but he said we can always use an extra!  (Husband is from Italy so kids always call him Papa just to be clear it isn’t Grandpa!)

When we set the table we would alternate colors, green dinner plate, pink salad plate, green sherbet plate and finally pink sherbet dish on top.  Then the next place setting would be the reverse.  This not only looked beautiful, we used everyone’s dishes and it also kept the kids busy for hours trying to get the setting correct while I did the cooking with no one under foot!  (See I had ulterior motives!)  Also I understand I’m ahead of my time as Oprah now says it’s better to set a table with different place settings.

Every special dinner every guest would know just who’s dish they were using and were politely told how delicate these dishes could be so be careful!  (At this point I would slide under the table in embarrassment)   As they grew they began to realize the value in those colored dishes and a new joke era began.  One of the kids would yell at the other not to scratch their plate, don’t cut your meat like that because that plate belongs to me; oh if it’s your plate then I can drop it; put ice in that pitcher because it’s his and so on.  I got them good one year as we were having a large gathering, making sure everything was absolutely perfect with the glass, large elegant candlesticks, silver polished and cleaning for weeks.  The kids were going on how strangers would scratch their dishes and ruin them.  When dinner was announced everyone came to the table going on about how beautiful it was, “Oh that’s Depression Glass I didn’t know there was so much still around”, then sat down and politely looked at each other.  My children however started rolling off their chairs as I had set the table with all my beautiful glass and plastic utensils!  After the Shrimp I let them use real utensils but the memory is laughed about every gathering we have!

My personal favorite was one year for my anniversary my husband bought all 16 of the tall Cherry Blossom tumblers, which are quite expensive.  The new rule was when we do cheers no banging the glasses as hard as they usually did, which was actually trying to see if they could shatter them.  Well they secretly made a pact and when we did cheers they all put their hands between the glasses so this has become our new way to toast!

I hear so many people tell me their children want no part of their collections.  When asked do they use them the common answer is, NO!  It’s too expensive, I can’t put them in the dishwasher, they may get scratched and so on.   Maybe if there was more of the above we’d have less of our children not being interested in them?  If the reason you began your collection was a special memory of someone you cherished don’t you want your children to have that same special memory?   I would wash a 1000 more hours of dishes, if I had to, just to keep those memories.