In an 800-plus-lot sale ending late in the evening of Monday, Oct. 17 — with call-backs running another few days — Glass Works Auctions offered a variety of great examples in most areas of collecting ... including target balls. Eighteen target balls were hammered down by the Pennsylvania auction house to a variety of collectors from across the United States.
While there were many “common” amber three molds, and only a couple of mid-level balls, particularly an almost yellow Hockey’s Patent, there were two stars in the auction, items 531 and 532. The following is a report on the sale (most of the balls were from one consignor; the Bogardus was a single consignment):
Note that all balls are assumed to be American, about 2 5/8 inches in diameter, with a rough-sheared mouth and in excellent condition unless noted. Sold prices do not include the 12-percent buyer’s premium (except the first two). The descriptions are from the catalog.
531: “PATD SEPT 25TH 1877” (around shoulder), deep sapphire blue with overall sand grain finish, 2 1/2 inches in diameter, blown in a three-piece mold. This is an extremely rare target ball reportedly made by the Corning Glass Co. The reason for the sand-grain texture was so that shot would not slide off when hitting the ball, giving a better percentage of breakage. Since only a handful of sand grain balls exist, the patent must not have been too successful. In past auctions of target balls we have sold only one other sand-grain ball, that in a green coloration. $5,500 (plus 12 percent, equals $6,160).
Jim Hagenbuch, Glass Works’ chief, cook and bottle washer, should read On Target, my newsletter for collectors of target balls! Or at least have me read the proofs on this part of the catalog before it is printed. I had said the patent was assigned to Corning. He took it one step further.
“It sold to a New England collector unknown to most of you collectors,” Hagenbuch told me. “And he is a powerhouse at times.”
Peter Frobouck was under-bidder — “He matched the bid, but wouldn’t go the next step,” said Hagenbuch, who added: “I really thought it could have gone another thousand; in this color, it is every bit as rare as the (base-embossed) Bogardus.”
“I bid $5,500 on the sand ball and that is what it sold for, so I was the underbidder,” said Frobouck of Pittsburgh.
Personally, I regret not being able to place even one bid on this great ball, but I just don’t have it ... this has been a good summer for buying; paying for it all has been a particular challenge for this retired “man of leisure.”
And, tooting my own horn (since, with these rapidly increasing target ball prices, I’m right less and less often these days) I had predicted that this ball should sell for around $5,500.
532: “C. BOGARDUS / PATD / APR 10TH / 1877 / GLASS BALL” (on base), deep tobacco amber with diamond pattern. Over the years we have sold numerous Bogardus balls in various colors and mold variations. This is only the second base-embossed one we’ve ever offered for sale. *Reportedly, only five or six base-embossed Bogardus balls are thought to exist.
WOW! On Sept 22, with three weeks to go in the auction, the ball has already reached an impressive $7,000! (Dave Shadel of Gardnerville, Nevada, admitted that “I quit on the Bogardus at $6,500.” It was the only thing he bid on. “$6,500 was my limit, and it wasn’t enough,” he said, then added: “The auctions should be of shorter duration. A month is far too long.”)
And, on Sept. 28, with almost three weeks yet to go on the auction and the ball now at $7,500, Mike O’Malley of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, asked: “This is not one of my over-the-top goofy e-mails. I have a serious question: Is a bottom-embossed Bogardus worth what a Sure Break is?” (Answer, no.)
All I really know for sure is that when I next update my insurance list, my rates will be higher!
When the dust settled, the ball had sold for $8,500 (plus 12 percent, totaling $9,520). This also went to the mystery New England bidder, while the *O’Malleys were underbidders.
(UNtooting my own horn, I predicted that this ball should go for $5,250.)
*Mike bids/collects/competes with his son, Sean.
Hagenbuch: “It was very strong, but ... if you are looking to put a nice Bogardus grouping together you won’t get a chance at this one too often ... if ever again.”
*A technicality: There are reportedly only five or six OF THESE base-embossed Bogardus balls thought to exist. There are TWO other Bogardus balls that are base-embossed, the St. Joe and the Chicago shooting gallery Bogardus balls, and they are even rarer than lot 532!
I pose these two queries: Q. Is it possible for one collector to acquire an example of the standard Bogardus ball in all the colors this ball is found in? A. With enough dedication, money and luck ... maybe. In time — years — you could come close, at least.
Q. Is is possible for one collector, with enough money, dedication and luck to acquire all the examples of the rare Bogardus forms (lot 532 plus the hobnail, the shooting gallery, the St. Joe, etc.). A. Maybe, but it would take a lot — an awful lot — of the above three ingredients.
In late September, this message from Mike O’Malley: “The bottom-embossed Bogardus has met its reserve and is on the way to setting a record for big bucks paid for a Bogardus, while somewhere out in cyberland sit two very confused, deranged, dazed collectors asking ‘*whathavewedonetoourselves,’ one happy seller of a Bogardus saying Yahoooo, and Mr. Hagenbuch thinking ‘In the new ad. it will read like this ...’ and Ralph Finch able to write about the poor idiot winner.
“Ain’t auctions neat? They make so many people happy and that is always a good thing.”
(“*Whathavewedonetoourselves” is Mike’s eBay name.)
After the auction, Mike O’Malley admitted that he had “bid on the bottom-embossed Bogardus. Why? I thought it was a nice ball. I do not have one. Being new to target ball collecting, I asked more experienced collectors what it was worth. When it reached $6,500 and I was still bidding, my son, Sean, began to roll his eyes; when it reached $7,000 and I was still bidding, he began to call other collectors to try and talk some sense into me. When I bid $8,000, he called his lawyer to have me declared incompetent. It is reassuring to know that somewhere out there is someone as crazy and incompetent as me. Congratulations on the purchase of a nice target ball, whoever you are. If it had no crazy, would it be collecting? I love this game.” — Mike O.
I asked Mike what that last line meant: He replied: “Boy, I do not have a clue. If we find the proofreader, he or she will be fired. Let me try the word (we) for it, add (in us) after crazy. My God I think we got it. ‘If we had no crazy in us, would we be collecting?’ ”
533: “BOGARDUS GLASS BALL - PATD APRIL 10 1877,” medium sapphire blue. This is the variant with the number “8” in a diamond above the letter “A” in April. One of the most desirable colors for a Bogardus ball. $ 2,500.
I would suggest that the “8” means this ball came from England, where one recently sold at auction for only $1,373.
Hagenbuch: “I always thought that this color was a little underrated by collectors.”
“I bid $1,997.97 on the blue Bogardus, and thought that was high enough, but I lost on that one, too,” lamented Frobouck.
534: “FOR HOCKEY’S PATENT TRAP,” English, pale olive-yellow color, 2 3/8 inches in diameter. Great example with a number of seed bubbles in the glass and in a very unusual color for a Hockey’s Patent ball. $950.
Indeed, the picture shows a very appealing color (although it looked better on the website than it did on the printed $25 catalog).
Hagenbuch: “This ball started off very slow ... in fact, we didn’t have an opening bid until the last week; then, a few more collectors got involved, but not as many as have bid on a Hockey’s’ in the past. I was somewhat surprised because this was a different color than you usually see.”
“I didn’t get to bid on any target balls this time around,” said Bob Strickhart of Pennington, New Jersey, “although I was contemplating the Hockey’s Patent — a nice color and reasonable, I thought. My attention ended up on one of the flavored beers and a Christmas light ... oh, the pain of being a general collector.”
535: “IRA PAINE’S FILLED - BALL PAT. OCT 23 1877,” in yellow amber, blown in a three-part mold. $300. Hagenbuch: “There are a lot of these around; sometimes they sell for more, sometimes for less.”
There have been several on eBay lately.
536: “GLASHUTTEN Dr. A. FRANK - CHARLOTTENBURG,” German, overall diamond pattern above and below center band, yellow olive. $250. When these previously unknown balls first came on the market a few years ago, they sold for more than a thousand dollars each. Despite the fall in value, they remain a good-looking, desirable ball.
Hagenbuch: “I think these have leveled out from their decline, and I haven’t heard of any additional finds coming out of Europe.”
537: “VAN CUTSEM - A ST QUENTIN,” French, with diamond pattern above and below the embossed center band. $100.
Hagenbuch: “They’ve been down to $70, and maybe they are working their way back up. Who knows.”
There are thousands and thousands of these balls, but — on eBay — they are usually described as “rare.” (Ha!)
538: Dark chocolate amber with seven horizontal rings around the entire ball. A crude ball with a number of impurities in the glass. Here’s one that does not come on the market often. $650.
Hagenbuch: “About where we have sold them in the past.”
“I got the seven-ring amber for $650,” said Frobouck. “That’s maybe $100 high, but now I have both of them (the blue one, too).”
539: Medium cobalt blue, “G.8.” embossed on smooth base, and three raised dots on shoulder, blown in a three-part mold. A rare ball! $210.
Hagenbuch: “I really thought this was going to bring more money, possibly double what it got. true, it’s a plain cobalt ball, but I don’t think we have offered one in previous auctions with this G8 on the base.”
Your editor doesn’t have one, and I have about 144 different target balls in the collection.
540: Overall diamond pattern, European, deep Prussian blue, 2 1/2 inches in diameter, rough sheared lip. Somewhat misshapen from being removed from the blowpipe while still too hot. About two years ago a few of these starting turning up, in yellow green, amethyst and this unusual blue color, which is the hardest to obtain of the *three. $275. Bought by the Missouri O’Malleys. *Glass Works forgot the one in black-glass, which I would nominate as the hardest to get.
“I won the misshapen, took-out-of-mold-too-quick, goofy-looking, European(?), Czech(?), something-or-other-ball,” said mirthy Mike O’Malley. “Why? Nobody else wanted it and I do not have it in blue.”
541: French, cobalt blue with large square pattern above and below an unembossed center band. $120. “Even though I had the ugly, wide-mouth French ball, I thought $120 — the minimum — was not bad,” said Frobouck, “and it could be sold to some new buyer on eBay at a later date.”
542: Straw yellow, blown in a three-piece mold. $110.
543: Medium amber, blown in a three-piece mold with a large diamond on the base. $100. “I did bid on almost all of the amber balls in Jim’s auction,” said Jeff Hooper of Port Angeles, Washington, “and I ended up getting lots 543 and 544.
“I also bid on several open-pontiled medicines, and got the one I really wanted, which was lot 334, an open-pontiled yellow olive-green ‘Jerome’s Hair Color Philada.’ Colored pontils are hard to come by, and I think I paid about premium on this one; it had some lip damage, but displays nice, since the damage was on the backside of the lip.”
544: Yellow-amber center shading to a deep-amber top and base, blown in a five-piece mold. A tiny hole, the size of a pinhead, is located on one of the mold seams. From it, a 1/8-inch crack extends outward. $70.
545: Yellow-amber shading to a deeper amber in the top, rough sheared lip, blown in a three-piece mold with an unusual “eye” on the base. $120.
Your reporter bought this; I have a nice series of these odd designs.
These crude base “designs,’ a variety of squiggles, circles, semicircles, ovals, lines short and long, are a Rorschach test: “When you look at this design, what do you see?” I just described one to a friend as a crude, reverse J, or an upside-down hook. Ron Long of Wales recently saw a bird with a ball in its beak. If I find one that looks like the Virgin Mary, if you squint, I expect to make thousands!
546: Yellow amber, in a five-piece mold (different from ball 544). $130
547: Yellow amber, blown in a three-part mold. $130
548: Yellow amber, in a three-part mold (different from ball 547). $130.
I asked ex-ball powerhouse Floyd Taylor of Bay City, Mich., if he had been bidding; he replied: “I sold my target ball collection and didn’t place any bids in the auction. When I started collecting balls, I told myself that I would collect until I got 100 variations. I sold when I was at 107. I don’t know what will spark my interest, but I will always collect something.”
Hagenbuch: “It was a fun grouping to sell; I’m sure the consignors will be happy. I hope we can put together some target balls for our winter auction” (set for mid-February).