GII-22 Eagle – Lyre Flask

GII – 22

“Union” Eagle – Lyre Flask

Possibly Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky

Medium Yellow-Amber Pint

Provenance: Sandor P. Fuss Collection

This medium yellow-amber GI-22 “Union” American Eagle – Lyre pint is extraordinary. It may be the only recorded example in this color as it is usually found in aqua and green glass. This flask was found in a southern Illinois antique shop by the late Gene Kelley. It was auctioned in March 1997 and again in 2014.

The embossed American eagle which is considered the primary or obverse face of the flask is facing left with head tilted slightly upward with the wings raised and spread. The eagle and flask design is placed within an oval. There is a ribbon coming from the eagle’s beak containing the embossed word ‘UNION’ between two small pearls. The eagle has a shield on the breast with seven bars. Above the ribbon, there are two rows of embossed arching four-pointed stars (eight on the top row and six below). Below the eagle is an elongated eight-point star in an oval. The left eagle talons are grasping three arrows or thunderbolts while an olive branch is in the right talon. 

The reverse of the flask depicts a large embossed lyre with two rows of arching four-pointed stars (eight on the top row and six below) above the ribbon. The lyre and stars are placed within an oval.

The flask has a plain lip and pontil mark. The flask edge is corrugated horizintally with a verticle medial rib.

Known colors are aqua, dark aqua, light green, light emerald green, and light blue-green which are considered rare. Brilliant green and yellow-green are considered very rare. This museum example in medium yellow-amber is not listed and is considered extremely rare.

The glass house was probably the Kentucky Glass Works in Louisville, Kentucky, and it would have been made between 1850 and 1855.

Support: Reference to American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry by Helen McKearin and Kenneth M. Wilson, Crown Publishers Inc., New York, 1978

Support Image: Auction Lot 151: “UNION” / EAGLE – LYRE, GII-22), Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1835 – 1845, medium yellow amber pint, open pontil, sheared, and tooled lip. A faint 1/4” long in-manufacturing vertical stress crack is in the top of the lip. Crude pebbly glass, bold impression. A rare flask in aqua, but the only known example in this brilliant amber color. This flask was found in a Southern Illinois antique shop by the late Gene Kelley. We auctioned it for him in our March 1997 sale. An important offering, and one that may not come along for another 15-years! – Jim Hagenbuch, Glass Works Auctions, 2014

Support Image: Auction Lot 73: Eagle – Lyre Historical Flask, Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, 1840-1860. Deep aquamarine, sheared mouth – pontil scar, pint. GII-22 Strong mold impression and thin delicate glass. Fine condition. Ex Edmund and Jayne Blaske collection. – Norman Heckler, Norman C. Heckler & Company, Auction #84

Support Images: Eagle/Lyre Flask, GII-22 – Yellow green glass; mold-blown; plain lip, pontil mark. Obverse: designs on oval panels; American Eagle, head turned to left; wings raised and spread; shield with seven bars on breast. Extending from eagle’s beak, ribbon in semi-circle over head. Above in two semi-circular rows fourteen four-pointed stars. Thunderbolt (three arrows) in eagle’s left talons, olive branch in right. Oval frame beneath containing large elongated eight-pointed star. Reverse: large lyre and above in two semi-circular rows fourteen four-pointed stars. Inscription: “UNION” in ribbon over eagle’s head and between two small pearls. Edges: corrugated horizontally with vertical medial rib. – Corning Museum of Glass

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