Bryant's Cone
Blue Homestead Bitters
Tis’ the season, tis’ the time, the changing of the guard, the beginning of the stampede. That is to say, bottles, these fragile creatures, looming, lurking, hiding and appearing, like ships passing in the night. Now as dawn breaks we see the glimmer of a pontil, the sparkle of General George Washington’s face. We see the beginning of a new day, one that brings hope and change, a new dimension to the bottle world.
In case you’ve missed it, I’m talking about the unusual number of deals, auction purchases and sales of some bottles with price tags more at home at a Tiffany’s Jewelry store or your local Rolls Royce dealership. Sales of bottles that are not just setting new records but breaking old ones. Like a steaming locomotive whistling through a midwestern plain of tumbleweed and dust. New prices breaking new prices, eyes wide shut in a momentary lapse while dollars are passed and bank accounts rise and fall. Bitters and historical flasks mostly, higher and higher they go.
Many are familiar with the Old Homestead that sold for $200,000, that’s old news, along with it a blue Fish Bitters a blue Sazerac Bitters, and a Bryant’s Bitters cone, rare and beautiful indeed and well into the five figures. But the sale of the Bryant’s and the “blue bottles” is just a part of what’s happening in the bottle world. Let’s take a look at some other examples. A purple Masonic GIV-1, $75,000, a Druids Bitters in green, $50,000 a GII-69 yellow and olive Eagle/Cornucopia, $44,850. How about a National Bitters C.C. Jerome & Co. Detroit, A.C.-S.W. 1865 in a rich amethyst? It sold for around $13,000 in 1990 out of the Cris Batdorff collection; 20 years later? How about $150,000. It is the only known example. Want more? A GI-73 General Taylor/Washinton Monument flask in pink, $28,750. There’s more. A Russ’ Stomach Bitters $29,900. Let’s not forget a GI-18 Washington Monument portrait flask in bright green with yellow selling for $27,600. Hey, this hobby is getting noticed.
A recent article in Maine Antique Digest entitled, New Collector Blood in the Antique Bottle Market Set Auction Records, written by the Norman C. Heckler & Company located in Woodstock Valley, CT puts it very succinctly. It goes on to say, “Recent trends… indicate resurgent interest in bottles and flasks among savvy Americana collectors with an eye for beauty, and the result has been a veritable pricing explosion, with records shattering at a dizzying rate.” Dizzying rate to be sure. How about a Stoddard Flag flask, GX-27 in yellow olive for $24,150. In their last sale in October 2009, many of the bottles showed just what the savvy Americana collectors are up to. With a new Heckler auction slated for March 31, 2010, there will again be a bevy of rare and beautiful pieces coming up and there’s little doubt that history will repeat itself.
National Bitters-A one of a kind Detroit Bitters
Why the resurgence in prices for these rare flasks and bitters? They are the clear-cut leaders of the movement but by no means the only area of growth. A Pitkin-type inkwell in light yellow olive saw $6,325 in the sale along with a price tag of $4,887 for a colorless historical drinking glass with an etched American Flag and Log Cabin with the words Hard Cider decorating the piece. A reference to William Henry Harrison, our 9th President in 1841 who ran on the “log cabin and hard cider campaign,” a reference to his layman’s background. In addition, a Dennis’s Georgia Sarsaparilla bottle in aqua with amber striations brought $4,600, a new record by anyone’s estimate. As the Heckler article proclaimed, “In the end, it is not simply the record prices but the overall strength of the bottle and flask market that is most impressive. While other categories have floundered in the so-called downturn, bottle and flask prices have never wavered, and with an ever-increasing crop of buyers, the future for the category is rosy.”
Masonic/Eagle GIV-1
So looking beyond the present day standards of buying a rare and possibly one-of-a-kind bottle at never before seen prices, what is driving it and where will it go? As Heckler points out; new blood. And of course the ever present veteran collectors. I’ve talked to some of the big time players and asked them what they thought about the continued resurgence in these rare handmade masterpieces. One anonymous collector pointed out that after surveying the landscape of collectibles, rare bottles appealed to him most. And why is that I wanted to know? He said that after looking at different categories, when you consider the rarity of some of the highest selling items, bottles are still comparably cheap.
1969-S Double Die Penny
Take coins for instance. A 1969-S Lincoln Cent With a Doubled Die Obverse can sell for $35,000, a penny much like all the other thousands of pennies we see every year. Just much rarer. Want to collect rare stamps? How about an 1867 U.S. Franklin Z-Grill? You’ll have to fork over $930,000 for one of those as a collector did in 1988. Baseball cards? To get the truly rare Honus Wagner T-206 in a grade 8, plan on paying around 2.8 million. A bargain for sure. But you can buy a much lesser grade example for around a million. It makes a blue Fisch’s Bitters seem like a bargain. A blue Homestead Bitters a mere bag of shells. When you have a bottle that is only one or two of that variant in the entire world, $50,000 seems like a bargain. Also, with coins, stamps and other high end collectibles, it’s hard to match the charm and elegance of a hand blown bottle knowing it’s maybe the only one out there. It is there on your shelf, a dazzling beacon of colored artistry, amazing all that grace its presence. Not to mention, as collector Jack Pelliter points out, a bottle has a lot better chance of not surviving over time. With a coin or stamp or baseball card, it’s probably in a drawer or even worse, a safety deposit box. No, it’s hard to beat the inherent beauty of a bottle, even a common example, made by a skilled craftsman, colorful and historical, a testament to the ingenuity and insightful spirit of the glasshouse that produced them.
Since the value of the rarest of the rare has remained fairly consistent, especially in the aforementioned categories, it’s possible to believe there is no end in sight. Surely when compared with an Ansel Adams print of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941 at $75,000, one of a number in existence, it would seem a rare flask can still be had for a bargain. Don’t get me wrong, the Adams print is arguably his most recognized work and for sheer black and white beauty it doesn’t get much better. But there are a number of them out there. For the privileged collector, those people who are lucky enough to obtain the best of the best, we say bully. These are exciting and wondrous times. What will the next blue Columbia flask sell for? Who will draw it from it’s darkened lair to shine again on the next shelf of the buyer of the best, the noble collector. Yes, we are all just borrowing these hand blown diamonds of the ages, while they wait patiently to move on to the next lucky buyer. Where will they fit into the collecting world twenty, fifty, one hundred years from now? No one truly knows but what one does know is that the antique bottle stands as strong and brilliant as any collectible there is today. You can almost see it in the embossed faces on the flasks, staring out in their eternal wisdom. One revels in the glory of a one-of-a-kind bitters bottle, perfect and unmoving, a color-filled monument to the past. As Heckler’s final words proclaim, “In following the lead of both pioneer Americana collectors and modern-day trendsetters then, perhaps there really is no better time for those of us with a love of antiques and hope for the future to grab for that bottle!” For the noble collector, grab that bottle indeed. �
