I have referred to this flask in a comment somewhere in this blog, however did not post a photo. This glob Brickwedel was discovered in a china cabinet in Siskiyou County Cal. in 2007. The elderly lady was digging a drainage ditch in her basement(?) when she uncovered this flask. This was in the 1970s. It was placed in her china cabinet along with some blob sodas (aqua Jacksons) and some 80s druggists. On my wedding anniversary in 2007, my wife presented this flask to me and related the story of it's purchase after lengthy negotiations. I still do not know the details, but it sure gives one hope that there are some nice examples out there undiscovered until by chance someone with an appreciation for good glass (or a husband hopelessly addicted), somehow stumbles upon it. The memories, and stories that surround these discoveries would make a book in themselves.
These 1880s flasks are fairly scarce when they have a tooled top. I only know of 3 applied top pints, and 2 half pints. Of course there are more out there, but the glob top Brick is one tough flask to find. This example has incredible whittle effect, and is in mint condition. It seems like the majority of slug plate flasks have little character. This one means alot to me...
There's a half pint Brick with a gnarly applicable top right around the corner from me. The guy found it under one of his downtown Sacramento buildings, just sitting on a shelf. So far, my pleas to score it have fallen on deaf ears. I'll keep on pluggin' away at him, though. You just never know.
ReplyDeleteM.E.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flask!
rs
M.E. That's a killer pc of glass & the story that goes with it almost rivals the piece itself ! I have the 1/2 pt baby brother to that one, looks just like it, whittled, applied, etc... Came out of an old well that I had to dig twice. First time, was spittin-out Peruvians at 2' but gushin' wet at only 3', plus had a second story stair deck-landing pier-post on top of it. Still got down about 7' in it though ! Second go around,attacked it in the fall,+ got the owner to let me temporarily remove the post. Out comes the Baby Brick, 1/2 pt applied and killer crude ! I had never even seen an applied 1/2'er until that day ! You should've seen the broken jugs in that well..... Ratafia, Grange fifth, Bonanza Bourbon, Renz Tonic,and a few other heavy hitters.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an extremely rare beautiful flask and great story on how this came to you. Have you ever wondered how or why things like this are drawn to certain people and what those odds are ? Call it luck or call it in your stars but to some old timers there's a phenomena that seems to exist that can help alter those odds. No I'm not wacked because I share that belief with at least one other very fortunate digger on this blog in which we've both put to the test and have seen it repeatedly happen over decades of digging and chasing bottles.
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Great story, outstanding western flask and wonderful wife. How sweet it is.
ReplyDeleteDennis