CINCINNATI, OH.- Two tall case clocks, a collection of rare, molded glass, and an Andrew Clemens sand bottle highlighted an exciting two days at Hindman’s Cincinnati saleroom as prices soared beyond estimates in the firm’s March American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts auction. The auction celebrated four centuries of American artists and craftsmen offering 679 lots of folk art, glass, stoneware, furniture, antique advertising, silver, textiles, music players, and coin-operated carnival and casino machines from private and institutional collections.

Another Six-Figure Andrew Clemens Sand Bottle

Hindman continues to prove itself as the premier auction house for Andrew Clemens sand bottles selling a spectacular example (lot 297) by the 19th century Iowa artist for $800,000. At 10.5 inches tall, this bottle featured a label reading “Pictured Rock Sand, Put Up By Andrew Clemens, Deaf-Mute, McGregor, Iowa” inside the bottle under the faceted stopper. Dated just five years before his death, both the size of the bottle and the placement of the label were highly unusual for Clemens, but is consistent with his constant evolution as an artist as his mastery of the medium allowed him to make more and more intricate examples. This sale marks the sixth time Hindman has sold a Clemens sand bottle for six figures, including the record auction price of $956,000 for the artist achieved in September 2021.

Tall Case Clocks Pace Furniture Category

A pair of tall case clocks set the pace in the furniture category each selling for $50,000 or more in back to back lots during the first session. First, a circa 1860 Gothic Revival carved mahogany tall case No. 24 astronomical regulator from E. Howard and Co., Boston, Massachusetts (lot 183), sold for $68,750. In the very next lot, a colossal 126-inch Renaissance Revival carved walnut tall case regulator clock, made for Chicago watchmaker J.S. Townsend (lot 184) sold for $50,000.

Other furniture highlights from the sale included a Chippendale pierce-carved and figured mahogany bonnet top chest-on-chest made for the Holcum Family of Philadelphia in 1758 (lot 18) that sold for $10,000; a Classical gilt-stencil decorated loo table, attributed to Philadelphia cabinetmaker Anthony Quervelle (lot 130) sold for $13,750; and a Queen Anne Japanned maple and pine flat top high chest (lot 5) that sold for $7,500.

Glassware Collected by George S. McKearin Sr.

Closing out the first day of the auction was the molded glass category, which saw some of the most voracious bidding of the auction. Bidders sent lots originally collected by George S. McKearin Sr. of New York soaring past presale estimates. McKearin was one of the most respected glass collectors and dealers of first half of the 20th century who quite literally wrote the book on the category in 1950. Two Hundred Years of American Blown Glass is still considered one of the premier reference books for glass collecting today more than 70 years after its publishing.

The top piece from the collection was an American molded-glass flask in yellow-green, circa 1824-1840 (lot 307), which sold for $40,625. Other highlights from the collection included a New York molded-glass flask in light sapphire blue by Lancaster Glass Works, circa 1824-1840, (lot 300), that sold for $23,750; and a blown-glass eating bowl in olive green, circa 1790-1820, (lot 322) that sold for $16,250.

Antique Coin-Operated Carnival & Casino Machines Pay Out

The second day of the sale began with enthusiastic bidding on 50 lots of an eclectic assortment of coin-operated carnival and casino machines from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lee South, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The top lot from the collection was a Mike Munves one cent High Striker skill game in oak case (lot 362) which sold for $8,438, more than double its presale estimate.