Rare Libbey vase tops Woody Auction cut glass sale at $22K

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A rare pedestal crescent vase by Libbey in the Herringbone pattern sold for $22,000 and a large round tray, also by Libbey, in the Diana pattern, realized $17,000 to take top lot honors at the sale of several outstanding collections of Brilliant Period Cut Glass held on May 12 by Woody Auction. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

The auction consisted of just under 400 lots of Brilliant Period Cut Glass, many of them rare, beautiful and stunning pieces. Featured was the continuation of the Bill Chandler collection, boasting many important pieces, as well as the Stanley and Ruth Gotliffe collection out of New Jersey. As with all sales held by Woody Auction, every item up for bid was offered to the highest bidder, without reserve.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise the two top lots were by Libbey Glass Co. The glass manufacturer was founded in Ohio in the late 19th century and produced some of the highest quality American Brilliant Cut glass items that remain highly sought after by collectors today. The pedestal crescent vase that sold for $22,000 (above) appealed to bidders because of its large size – 12½ inches in height – and rare shape. It had a large scalloped petticoat hobstar foot.

The round Libbey tray in the Diana pattern (below)was also seen as desirable for its large size – 15¾ inches in diameter – but also for its superior quality. The piece had been pictured as an outstanding example of its kind on page 228 of Rarities. Another Libbey Brilliant Period Cut Glass bowl – this one in the Marcella pattern, 3¼ inches by 9¾ inches square, with superb cutting – changed brought $5,000.

One other lot in the sale topped the $10,000 mark: a pair of Brilliant Period Cut Glass vases by glassmaker Dorflinger – one cranberry and one green, both cut to clear – in an unnamed but gorgeous pattern featuring engraved floral with hobstar, vesical and nailhead diamond highlights. The pattern of the vases matched one featured in the Philadelphia Museum of Art that was presented to the museum by Dorflinger & Sons in 1903. The vases each stood 11¾ inches tall and sold as one lot for $14,500.

Following are additional highlights from the auction, which attracted about 100 people to the venue, 15 absentee bidders and 270 registered online bidders, who bid via the online platform LiveAuctioneers.com and who tallied nearly 8,000 page views during the auction.

All prices quoted are hammer. Woody Auction (based in Douglass, Kansas) does not charge a buyer’s premium when bidding in person.

A water set featuring a 12-inch pitcher in the Pedestal Alhambra pattern by Meriden with a triple-notched handle and full pattern cut foot, plus six pattern-matched 3¾-inch-tall tumblers, sold to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $8,000.

Also selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder was a 14¼-inch-tall emerald green cut to yellow tankard with a fabulous wheel carved floral design, a clear applied handle, and a ray cut base, which hammered down at $6,500.

A hard-to-find tazza (shallow bowl of wide form, on a footed stem) by Libbey, in the Aztec pattern, having a scalloped petticoat hobstar foot, breezed to $4,000. Also, a rare round tray by Clark in the Waldorf pattern (also known as the Quatrefoil and Rosette pattern), 11¾ inches in diameter, with a brilliant well-cut blank, showing strong yellow/green fluorescence under the black light, topped out at $3,750.

Round trays by Hawkes were a hit with bidders. An 11-inch-diameter example in the Panel pattern with exquisite blank and cutting, went for $5,000 through LiveAucitoneers; while one in the Lattice and Rosette pattern, signed and 10 inches in diameter, with outstanding blank, fetched $4,000. Both trays, just like the aforementioned Clark tray, also showed strong yellow/green fluorescence under the black light.

Beautiful, colorful wine glasses always get paddles waving, too. A 7-inch-tall BPCG green cut to clear wine glass in a cane, vesical and fan motif, with a hobstar foot, found a new owner for $5,500. Also, a blue cut to clear wine glass in a block and fan motif, having a clear, six-sided air trap stem with hobstar foot, a little smaller at 5¾ inches, didn’t sell for quite as much either, settling at a respectable $4,250.

A green cut to clear decanter in the Marlboro pattern by Dorflinger, 8¼ inches tall and sporting a bell-shaped body, hobstar base and pattern cut stopper, left the room for $3,750; while a two-color cut to clear covered jar by an unknown maker but of nice quality and quite striking, blue cut to rose cut to clear and having a bird-on-branch décor with floral and scroll highlights, 8½ inches tall, made $5,000.

An extra-large flower centerpiece signed Libbey in the Empress pattern – 9 inches by 15 inches – with a facet cut ring neck, coasted to $4,500. Also, a top-quality, 18-inch-tall trumpet vase by Hawkes in the Queens pattern, with a facet cut ball stem and 7-inch hobstar foot, gaveled for $3,750.

For further information contact Woody Auction at 316-747-2694 email info@woodyauction.com.