Not too long ago I was looking for some strong representative Kentucky bottles for a marketing piece I was developing for the FOHBC 2014 National Antique Bottle Show in Lexington, Kentucky. Of course I immediately thought of pieces attributed to the Louisville Glass Works and Kentucky Glass Works. Some of the local guys like Sheldon Baugh and Randee Kaiser (show co-chairs) sent me some bottle pictures for consideration, plus I had some archived files for use. I was able to come up with the final assemblage using a grouping of bottles in front of the famous painting of Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers Through the Cumberland Gap by George Caleb Bingham. I added a frame to it and a wreath of roses as a tribute to the fine Kentucky thoroughbred horses. Continuing this thought, our bottle shootout event will be called the “Run for the Roses”. The Kentucky bottles in the art include a Louisville scroll flask, a bitters square, a whiskey barrel, a figural pig, a blue soda water and a pocket flask. Can you further identify them? 
Well I finally got a chance to look again, and more thoroughly at the fine assortment of bottles in the Glass Works Auction #98 “Summer Sizzler Auction” and I was excited to see some great Louisville flasks which will occupy the second half of this post.
Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
‘The Summer Sizzler’ Auction
Fantastic flasks! Btw, no offense to Glass Works Auctions, but the Kentucky Glass Works (later, Louisville Glass Works) didn’t start operation until 1850. These flasks, if they are truly Louisville products, date after 1850, NO earlier!
David Whitten
Read: Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century – Part 1 – by David Whitten
Read: Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century – Part 2 – by David Whitten
Lot 18. EAGLE – EAGLE, (GII-24), Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1834 – 1845, medium sapphire blue pint, open pontil, sheared lip. Lightly cleaned to remove a light exterior haze, traces of which remains in the recessed areas of the bold impression. A popular mold that occurs in a number of attractive colors with this one being the most sought after! – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
Lot 19. EAGLE – EAGLE, (GII-26), Louisville Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1835 – 1845, medium blue green quart, iron pontil, sheared and tooled lip. A potstone located above an eagle’s banner has several very tiny 1/16” in length cooling radiation’s stemming from it, otherwise a pristine beauty! Excellent glass whittle, bold impression, very striking color. – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
Lot 20. EAGLE – (plain), (GII-28), Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1835 – 1845, aqua two and one-half quarts, iron pontil, sheared and tooled lip. A 1” by 1” in size opening is located at midpoint on the side ribbing. From this opening a 6” long crack travels downward, then horizontally across the ribbing. Yes it has serious damage, but it is also a serious rarity with this being one of three or four known examples. – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
Lot 21. EAGLE / “LOUISVILLE KY / GLASS WORKS”, (GII-35), Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1850 – 1865, deep yellowish grass green quart, smooth base, crude laid on ringed mouth. A pinhead in size flake is off one of the vertical ribs, otherwise a sparkling beauty! An exceptional rarity, and one of only a very few that is in a color other than aqua! – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
Lot 43. SCROLL Flask, “LOUISVILLE, KY – GLASS WORKS”, (GIX-7) Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1840 – 1850, medium yellow green quart, iron pontil, rough sheared lip has an area of roughness that extends to the outside edge of the lip. Crude and highly whittled glass in a rare, desirable color!
It is a rare occasion when a marked Louisville scroll flask is offered for sale, and considerably rarer when it is in a good color! – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
Lot 44. SCROLL Flask, “LOUISVILLE, KY – GLASS WORKS”, (GIX-8), Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1840 – 1850, medium amber pint, iron pontil, sheared and tooled lip. Pristine perfect condition with crude overall pebbly glass, and an interior glass fold. Hard to imagine a nicer one, especially in this rare, desirable color! – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
Lot 45. SCROLL Flask, “LOUISVILLE, KY – GLASS WORKS”, (GIX-9), Kentucky Glass Works, Louisville, Kentucky, ca. 1840 – 1850, light apple green pint, reddish iron pontil, rough sheared lip. Some milky inside content stain exists but no damage. Not a lot of color but no trace of aqua! This is the scarce arched embossing variant. Ex. Charles Gardner Collection #2875. – Glass Works Auctions | Auction #98
