HL-4 "H. CLAY" STEAM LOCOMOTIVE PRESSED OPEN SALT, colorless, embossed under base, hairpin ends, raised on four scrolled feet, very thick base. Extremely rare. Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. or Midwestern. 1835-1845 1 5/8" H, 2" x 3 1/8".
Literature: Neal, Pressed Glass Salt Dishes of the Lacy Period, p. 120. Like Bourne, The William J. Elsholz Collection, Vol. I, pp. 165 and 167, lot 639. Spillman, American and European Pressed Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, p. 181, fig. 684. Wilson, American Glass, Vol. 1, p. 350, fig. 448. The McKearins, American Glass, pl. 164, fig. 7.
Catalogue Note: This is undoubtedly one of the rarest and most important examples of American historical glass. According to Spillman, this salt may commemorate the opening of the Lexington, Kentucky Railroad, of which Henry Clay was a large shareholder. If so, it is probably of Midwestern origin.

Glass deaccessioned by the Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT. All proceeds will go toward the museum's Collections Acquisition Fund.
Ex-collection of James A. Warren, West Coxsackie, NY.

Lacking one foot, another foot with chip to end, some typical mold roughness.