Why we Collect

Ask any antique dealer, auctioneer, or collector why they collect and you will get a myriad of answers but I feel that all will agree that one of the main reasons we collect is because of the People we meet and the community that we become.  In a 30 year career of collecting, buying, selling and loving glass I have meet some very interesting people and this last Sept was no exception.  I received a phone call from a long time friend and glass junky Kimberly Scialdone to see if I could converge on Bransville Oh to check out a Lotton collection for a possible consignment to my Auction House  in Texas.  Ironically Barnsville is 20 miles from my home town of Wheeling WV. So I drove 1200 miles to visit my Mom and look at Lotton glass.

Upon arriving at a very nice two story Victorian Kimberly introduced me to Ernie Albanese and  lead me into what could only be called a glass and pottery museum.  Every room including the attic and kitchen was filled with wonderful items of pottery and glass, the Lotton was just the tip of the ice berg.  The love and passion that I felt from listening to Ernie talk about his collection was almost a kin to listening to grandparents talk about the grandkids. And that my friends is what makes this fun.

What a fantastic life, Ernie has a West Point Graduate, a 4th  Regiment Boxing champion,  army ranger,  a vice president at Citi Bank in New York city and a long the way bought glass  because of his mom.

The Lotton collection was amazing but a far cry second fiddle to the Imperial and pottery collection.

Later I learned that Ernie and Kim have co authored a book on Imperial free hand glass. 

What a fun day this was  listening to Ernie and Kimberly talk about collecting  Imperial with stories, passion,  laughter, and of course a piece of cake from Ernies wife Mary Ann, and that  is why I collect glass.  Bruce Orr

TO ORDER ERNIES and  KIMS NEW BOOK ON IMPERIAL FREEHAND CALL BRUCE AT

630-248-7785

What you see: A circa 1900 Daum glass vase, painted in the Prairie pattern and rendered in a bulbous stick form. It stands a little over 12 inches tall. Jaremos estimates it at $12,000 to $18,000.

The expert: Bruce Orr, founder of Jaremos, which is located in Flower Mound, Texas.

How is the word “Daum” pronounced? [Laughs] It depends on if you’re American or French. Here, it’s “dom”. In France, it’s more like “dome”.

Who, or what, was Daum? Is it still active? Two brothers, August and Antonin Daum, ran a cameo-decorating company at the turn of the century. It was in competition with Émile Gallé, and it was contemporary with Tiffany Studios in the United States. The company was strong until 1913, when World War I shut the factory down, and it ended up being used as a field hospital. After the war, the brothers were too old to continue. One of their sons took over. Daum has been a continuously producing glass house for 130 years. 

Does it still make art glass? It still does some. In the 1980s, it did a series with Salvador Dali. Daum is to France what Steuben was to America, as far as stemware.

And the “Nancy” in the title of the lot listing–that is the town in France where Daum is based? Yes. Gallé was the primary glass-maker in Nancy. Daum came second. But in 1904, Gallé died, so it lost its leader a little early. Daum has more appeal to Americans than Europeans because it’s pretty. Americans buy pretty. Americans have always gone pretty. Europeans like technique.

Was there a golden age of Daum art glass? There’s an argument based on whether you’re a fan of Art Nouveau or Art Deco, but 1900 to 1913 is considered the high point.

Do we have any notion of how many pieces of art glass Daum produced during its golden age? I’m sure the records are out there somewhere, but any number I could give you would be a guess. Daum was a big operation. It had 100 artists at one point, decorating the glass.

The lot notes describe the vase as having “iconic Prairie décor”. Was “Prairie” a specific line of art glass that Daum produced? Yes. This is a guess on my part, but it was not popular in its day, compared to the Daum Winter scenes. I might see one Prairie piece for every 100 Winter pieces. Because of that, Prairie is desired by collectors.

Do we know how many Prairie pieces Daum made, and how many survive? No, but I can tell you that over the last 15 years, eight have sold publicly that I know of.

Would this be the only Daum glass vase you’ve seen that’s in the Prairie style and has a bulbous stick shape? It’s the only one I know of.

How many different shapes did Daum offer in the Prairie line? There could have been 30 to 40 different ones. Most of the time with Prairie, they’re small. 

The lot headline calls this Daum glass vase “rare”. What makes it so? Is it purely the Prairie decoration, or does its unusual shape play a role? It really wouldn’t make a difference what shape it has. It could be an ashtray and it would still get attention. This is one of the better ones I’ve seen as far as the shape. That should help it, but it’s the decoration that makes it rare.

Does this bulbous stick form vase show up only in the Prairie line, or do other pieces of Daum take this form? Other Daum pieces have this shape.

What can we tell, just by looking, how difficult this Daum glass vase was to make? As far as the enameling–and again, I don’t mean to downplay it–the decoration itself is not difficult to do. It wouldn’t have been that complicated. The difficulty is in getting the shape. When you consider that they were all hand-blown pieces, that’s saying something.

What challenges would the bulbous stick form pose to the glass-blower? Just the consistency. It’s difficult to do it consistently, but Daum, they were masters. 

In looking at the shape of the Daum glass vase, it almost revels in its inability to function. Was it explicitly designed never to be used to hold flowers? Oh, come on! You could put one flower in it! [Laughs] I don’t think it was meant to be used. Tiffany, Gallé, and Daum were always made for the affluent of the day. It was always strictly a decorative piece. 

What condition is the Daum glass vase in, and what condition issues do you tend to see with the bulbous stick form pieces? Anybody can crack or chip these. Once that happens, it takes 90 percent of the value out of the vase. The decoration can wear, and it’s usually worn by exposure to the sun. This one is very clean. On a one to ten scale, it’s about an 8.5. It has pretty strong decoration and not a lot of wear on it at all.

So the sun is the number one enemy of a piece like this? That, and if the owner is a klutz.

What is the Daum glass vase like in person? The delicate flowers on the bottom–I took a shot of the vase laying down so you could see it–I don’t know how you paint this on a piece of glass. The trees have definitive branches and the wildflowers are very delicately done. It doesn’t take a super artist, you just have to have the time to do it. 

As we speak on March 25, 2021, the Daum glass vase has been bid up to $5,500 with the auction almost three weeks away. Is that meaningful at all, this far out?Yeah. It tells you there’s interest. Normally, most [lots] come close to two or three times their presale estimates. 

In my last sale, I had a Tiffany red flower formthat was at $5,500 with three weeks to go, and it ended up doing $19,200. [The link reflects the Tiffany piece’s hammer price, or the price before the premium and attendant fees are added.]

What is the world auction record for a piece of Daum art glass in the Prairie style, and what is the record for any Daum piece? The overall record was set in December 2006 at Christie’s by a glass gourd piece that sold for $156,000. The record for a Daum piece in the Prairie style belongs to this same piece, or an identical version of this piece. It was offered in the same 2006 Christie’s auction, and sold for $28,800.

Why will this Daum glass vase stick in your memory? It’s the only one I’ve ever had. You remember the pieces that are really, really rare. When you have pieces this special, it’s exciting.

How to bid: The Daum glass vase is lot 0206 in the Spring Art Glass 2021auction scheduled at Jaremos on April 14, 2021. 

This article was originally published on The Hot Bid and written by Sheila Gibson Stoodley.

The Holy Grail of American Victorian Glass

Arguably, the most rare of all American Victorian Glass prized by collectors today is New England Plated Amberina. In the course of consulting and cataloging literally hundreds of glass collections I would have to say the one item that appears to have eluded the collector is that of Plated Amberina.  A perfect example of the scarcity of this genre would be during the2003 Miami Antique Show where out of 1000 booths only Louis St. Albans offered a tumbler priced at $3,000.00.

In the 1990’s when a plated piece came up for auction competition was hard-fought with top collectors battling it out to win the few examples available making it nearly impossible for an average collector to ever land an example of the rare glass for their own collection.

Plated Amberina made its debut in June of 1886 when it was introduced by the New England Glass Company, most likely in response to the popularity of Hobbs Brockunier’s highly successful line “Coral”, known today as Wheeling Peachblow.  Today, the two are sometimes confused.  Due to Hobbs’ immense success with Peachblow, it is a reasonable assumption that New England would vie for buyers with the introduction of their line, Plated Amberina.  

So why is it so rare today?

Two reasons - First, the public did not embrace Plated Amberina and the line simply did not sell well resulting in a short production time and a very limited supply.  The second reason is due to the production method use.  Plated Amberina has a cased air-trap layer that is inherently prone to breakage, and unfortunately over time many pieces have not survived.  Today, you can count on one hand the number of Plated Amberina pieces that may come up for sale in a year.

In its prime, prices were astronomical with tumblers bringing $2,500.00 each, punch cups $2,400.00, cream pitchers $9,000.00, sugar bowls $12,000.00, vases $5,000.00 to $12,000.00, rolled rim bowls $7,000.00, an oval pitcher $10,000.00, cruets $6,000.00, and the holy grail - a bulbous pitcher owned by Maude Feld which sold for $45,000.00.  I can’t count the times that I heard a collector say, “I wish I could find a piece of Plated Amberina but at these prices I probably never will”.

This year will bring unprecedented opportunity to those who have not yet been able to acquire a piece of rare Plated Amberina glass.  Jaremos in one of two auction houses in the world that will have the honor of selling the collection of the late Jerry Black, a well-known collector of Plated and a great friend.   With Jerrys passing last year the world not only lost an exemplary collector but also a wealth of knowledge making this event bittersweet.  To quote Jerry, “I am only the custodian of this glass not the owner.”  Jerry would be happy to see his glass find a new home with a collector that loves the glass as much as he did.

Jaremos Auction February 20 -21, 2020, will have 13examples of Plated Amberina from the Jerry Black estate along with other Victorian and Art Nouveau glass In addition to items from the collection of Jan Nolan, of Morgantown WV.