Glassware shattered expectations at Magnum Auctions

Greentown McKee chocolate glass two-headed chick dish, sold for $6,750 ($8,100 with buyer's premium) at Magnum Auctions.

UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio — The only known copy of a Greentown McKee two-headed chick dish blew past its upper estimate at Magnum Auctions‘ two-day Fall Harvest of Antiques sale September 9-10 (Day 1, Day 2).

Greentown glass is highly sought after by an avid collecting base, thanks to the wide and whimsical variety of the glassware from Greentown, Indiana. Chick dishes are a popular variety, but the example sold by Magnum for $6,750 ($8,100 with buyer’s premium) is apparently unique: the dish’s chicken lid features not one but two heads. It had been estimated at $2,500-$4,500.

Fine examples of vintage glassware dominated the sale. A pair of Boston Sandwich vaseline glass dolphin-form candlesticks had been estimated at $300-$500 but hammered at $1,900 ($2,280 with buyer’s premium).

J. Hoare & Company was located in the capital of American glass — Corning, New York — with high demand for their items today. This sterling whiskey jug, attributed to J. Hoare with a Gorham Sterling stopper, was estimated at $200-$400, but fierce bidding between the internet and floor drove the final price to $1,900 ($2,280 with buyer’s premium).

The Imperial Glass Company of Bellaire, Ohio perfected the creation of glassware without molds in the early 1920s. Its Imperial Freehand line featured hand-crafted items, no two the same. A drag loop ruby irridescent onionskin vase that retains its original manufacturer’s label sold for $2,800 ($3,360 with buyer’s premium) to an internet bidder. It had been estimated at $600-$1,000. An Imperial glass green and gold luster drag loop bowl brought $1,900 ($2,280 with buyer’s premium) against a $300-$600 estimate.

Yet another strong performance was seen with a Victorian Tufts silverplate cherub vaseline glass boat relish, hammering at $2,600 ($3,120 with buyer’s premium), far above the $300-$600 estimate.