Skip to content
glass collection

Woody Auction to sell incomparable glass collection Sept. 7-8

glass collection
Elaborate hand-painted Wave Crest panel featuring an early Venice, Italy, scenic décor, mounted in an oak frame. Woody Auction image

DOUGLASS, Kan. – The lifetime collection of Don and the late Carrol Lyle – dedicated collectors of Wave Crest, Nakara, Kelva and American Brilliant Cut Glass whose items have been featured in books, trade publications and museum exhibits – will be sold without reserve in a two-day auction slated for Sept. 7-8 by Woody Auction. Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

The Lyles, who hail from Washington state, began collecting glassware pieces decades ago, with their main focus being on items produced by the C.F. Monroe Co., Meriden Connecticut, 1882-1916). The Lyles loved the quality of the Wave Crest, cut glass and other items created by C.F. Monroe, and managed to assemble one of the foremost collections in the country that featured these lovely pieces.

“Without a doubt this is the finest Wave Crest collection to ever come to public auction,” said Jason Woody of Woody Auction. “Don and the late Carrol Lyle were well-known collectors and beloved members of the Wave Crest and American Brilliant Cut Glass clubs, as well as the American Cut Glass Association. Now their one-of-a-kind collection will be sold to the highest bidder, without reserve.”

Highlighting the two-day sale will be 350 lots of Wave Crest, Nakara and Kelva, plus over 300 lots of American Brilliant Cut Glass, which will play an equally significant role in the event. The Friday, Sept.7, session, starting at 5 p.m. Central time, will contain lots 1-250. The balance of the catalog (lots 251-670) will come up for bid in the Saturday, Sept. 8, session, starting at 9:30 a.m.

Stars of the Wave Crest category include an elaborate hand-painted panel (above) featuring an early Venice, Italy scenic décor, signed “C.V.H.” (for Carl V. Helmschmied), mounted in a 29¾-inch by 23½-inch oak frame; and an unmarked pipe holder plaque in green and cream tones with a portrait of an Indian in full headdress, plus an embossed scroll design and set in a brass frame holding five Wooden English pipes.

The unmarked, 17½-inch-tall Wave Crest vase has a hand-painted scenic décor showing two women near a bench and a reverse showing a chrysanthemum décor, with gilt metal feet and handles and a cobalt blue border, is outstanding; as is the unmarked Wave Crest dresser box in cream and blue tones with an underwater fish scenic décor, gold stencil highlights and gilt metal feet.

glass collection
This 17½-inch-tall unmarked Wave Crest vase (left) will sell Friday, Sept. 7, while the marked Nakara vase (right) decorated with sailboats will go up for bid on Saturday, Sept. 8. Woody Auction image

A Wave Crest banner mark vase, 17 inches tall, deep emerald green, showing a classic courting scene, with Vermillion trim highlights, gilt metal feet and handles, is nearly identical to the vase shown on page 47 of Cohen’s Wave Crest book. Also offered will be an unmarked Wave Crest wall plaque, 12 inches by 8½ inches, depicting a woman in a sheer pink dress, housed in an ornate gilt metal frame.

Additional Wave Crest lots of note include an unmarked wall plaque with cobalt blue border and scroll mold, depicting a woman in a sheer dress holding a wreath, in an ornate gilded frame measuring 16 inches by 12 inches; and a rare wall plaque marked C.F. Monroe, with a colorful floral branch décor, artist signed “S” (attributed to Gussie Stremlan) and mounted in a 27½-inch by 21-inch wooden frame.

American Brilliant Cut Glass is enormously popular with collectors and the Lyles were no exception. Pieces in the auction will feature a high-quality punch bowl in the Sunburst pattern by C.F. Monroe with an exact pattern matched base and nine pattern-matched pedestal punch cups; and a decanter in the Croesus pattern by J. Hoare, 12½ inches tall, with a ray cut base and quality blank.

glass collection
High-quality American Brilliant Cut Glass punch bowl in the Sunburst pattern by C.F. Monroe with an exact pattern matched base and nine pattern-matched pedestal punch cups. Woody Auction image

Also selling will be an ABCG table lamp, 19½ inches tall, signed Gundy and Clapperton, boasting a fabulous cutting of hobstar cluster and Millicent stripes with a finely engraved scene of geese flying over cattails; and an ABCG vase, 14 inches tall, in the Odolet pattern by C.F. Monroe, with a hobstar base and heavy blank, as featured in the Monroe catalog #11, page 42 (only this one is larger).

glass collection
American Brilliant Cut Glass table lamp signed Gundy and Clapperton. Woody Auction image

Nakara is a trade name for a white glassware decorated in pastel colors and made about 1900 by C.F. Monroe. The glass was similar to that of Wave Crest. It had an acid finish and beaded or raised rococo scrolls. Boxes for dressing tables were the most common Nakara pieces. The mark isn’t found on every piece. A couple of gorgeous Nakara pieces from the Lyle collection being sold include the following:

– A marked, 17½-inch-tall vase showing a night scene of sailboats in a harbor, done in cobalt blue with pale blue and cream side panels, Vermillion blue highlights and gilt metal feet and handles.

– A humidor marked Nakara, measuring 5¾ inches by 4 inches, done in brown and rust tones, with a portrait of an Indian in full headdress and the word “Cigars” showing on the humidor lid.

glass collection
Humidor marked Nakara, measuring 5¾in by 4 in, done in brown and rust tones, with a portrait of an Indian chief and the word ‘Cigars’ showing on the lid. Woody Auction image

For details contact Woody Auction at 316-747-2694 or info@woodyauction.com

[av_button label=’View the fully illustrated catalog and bid on LiveAuctioneers.’ link=’manually,https://bit.ly/2MAb0EQ’ link_target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ position=’center’ label_display=” icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ av_uid=’av-oe8eeu’ admin_preview_bg=”]

glass collection