BOGARDUS GLASS TARGET BALL Western Curved \"R\'s\" from S.F. & Pacific Glassworks For Sale

Note the very curvy legged Western Style \"R\" in BOGARDUS here!Important Honey Yellow BOGARDUS Target Ball,with Western Curved \"R\'s\" & Backwards \"2\"

It\'s been a while since we\'ve offered a really unusual target ball for sale, and we are very excited to be able to offer one that we\'ve never seen before! We\'ve seen quite a few Bogardus Balls and many variations and colors over the years, but we don\'t recall ever seeing one with these fascinating Western Style curved \"R\'s\" before. (All the ones we\'ve seen have straight legs- please see next photo of a ball from the Kerr collection-not for sale here- that shows this.)
The one for sale in this sale is embossed \"BOGARDUS\' GLASS BALL - PAT\'D APRL\' 10 1877\" (in the center band), and it also has a backwards number \"2\" in a diamond above the center band and the number \"2\" (not backwards this time) is embossed on the base. The backwards \"2\" and the number \"2\" on the bottom makes this a very scarce to rare (and very cool) variant, but with the curved \"R\'s\" too, it may quite possibly be unique!Beautiful honey yellow amber to very near yellow color. Great embossed diamond pattern. Rough sheared lip as made. Perfect mint condition as made, hard to believe, but it\'s flawless. Measures about 2 and 5/8 inches in diameter. Beautiful glass with some nice bubbles and crudity. Probably dates to sometime between 1877 and 1885, we believe. Please see photos and let us know if you need more or need more information. Quoting Mike McKillop, who writes on the Peachridge Glass website as follows \"I believe that the 1870′s was the golden age of western glass making, and nothing shows that better than western curved R bottles. Curved R bottles were only made at the S.F. & Pacific Glass Works, when C. Newman owned the company during the 1870′s. No other glass company used that style of R in their molds.\" (There is some speculation amongst the Western glass collectors that we\'ve talked to that this style of R, with the curved front leg, is the work of one particular gifted mold maker. Glass with the embossed curved R\'s of his may have been his signature, effectively saying, \"I made this!\") Warren Friedrich, author of the fantastic book \"Early Glassworks of California\" writes on that same site, \"Glass target Balls were manufactured by at least two of the West Coast glass works, San Francisco Glass Works and the California Glass Works.\"
With those two pieces of information, the noted reliability and expertise of the Peachridge Glass website, and additional information from our copy of Friedrich\'s book (see photos & captions below), we feel confident that this Bogardus glass ball was very likely produced at the San Francisco & Pacific Glass works. The Bogardus design was closely followed, with the exception of the curved R\'s, the signature mark of that mold maker, we believe!
The San Francisco and Pacific Glassworks, headed by the Newman family, was in business from 1875 to 1899. This target ball suggests that they must have made a mold for Bogardus during that period of time; likely between 1877 and 1885, we believe. So Bogardus must have asked the glassworks to produce a mold for him and create balls for the San Francisco and California target ball shooting crowd, probably saving on shipping the balls from Chicago or points further east. (In the descriptions of one of the target balls from the Kerr Collection sold by American Bottle sales there is a note that \"Alex points out in some of his notes that Bogardus target balls were made throughout the country, which saved shipping costs.\" But there is no note regarding balls with curved \"R\'s\" like the one in our sale.) We know for a fact that Bogardus target balls were produced by several glassworks, so if he was picking one in the west for a time, too, this target ball seems to prove that he likely chose the San Francisco and Pacific Glassworks! (We also invite emails from other Western Glass and Target Ball enthusiasts with information that we can add to this listing. We\'ve consulted with experts, but no one appears to have heard of a target ball with these curved R\'s; if you have one, please let us know and send us a picture!)
We\'re offering this important piece of Western American Glass History with an extremely reasonable reserve, less than the GlassTargetBalls.Com website estimated value of a usual backwards \"2\" Bogardus Glass Target Ball of $500 to $650, without these fascinating curved Western \"R\'s\"!

Click on this link to see that page of the GlassTargetBalls.Com websiteYou can also find more information on the wonderful Captain A.H. Bogardus, champion Sharpshooter, who invented the first practical glass ball trap in 1877. With the popularity of the \"Bogardus Trap\" and many others that followed, the glass target ball become more accepted in trap clubs across the country. (It\'s a great website with lots of good information and pictures!)

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THANKS AGAIN, and HAVE FUN!!!

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Note Strait Legged \"R\" on this ball from the Alex Kerr collection (not for sale in this sale) sold by American Bottle sales. All the Bogardus balls that we\'ve seen personally, and all the ones that we\'ve found pictures of online have the same straight legged \"R\'s\" in Bogardus and April.Very cool Backwards 2 here above the \"T\"!Nice curvy \"R\", with nice bubbles and crudity! \"R\" in April shown here also has curved leg, very similar but maybe not quite the same as the R in Bogardus. Western Bottles are often noted to have interesting variation in the \"R\'s\" in the same mold, very similar to what is seen with this target ball!Fancy Curvy \"2\" on the bottom. Nice crudity and color variation here, too. Really beautiful glass and design!Nicely formed rough sheared top.April 10, 1877 Patent date- displays great from the Bogardus or Patent Date sides!Nice heavy mold seam here.Very interesting mold seam and embossing here between the 1877 and the \"B\" in Bogardus. Nice looking glass with bubbles and crudity. Very cool looking long \"7\'s\" in 1877, too!From Friedrich\'s book- Figure 131 - note balls perched on top of wicker demijohns near bottom left above. Almost certainly Target Balls, possibly Bogardus? Photo is a detail of products made by San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works exhibited at the 1879 San Francisco Industrial Exhibition Fair.Glass target balls were definitely produced by western glassworks, as demonstrated by this ad from the Pacific Rural Press newspaper in 1883 for the California Glass Works, also in San Francisco. Again from Friedrich\'s book, Figure 144._gsrx_vers_486 (GS 6.5.1 (486))

On Aug-28-13 at 17:55:09 PDT, seller added the following information:

Hi all, thanks for your interest! Yes, just one more offer now, and I think you\'ll meet the reserve! Bryan at Lakeside

On Aug-31-13 at 13:02:46 PDT, seller added the following information:

Hi all- wanted to wish you a HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!, and let you know that we\'ve corresponded with one of the leading experts on target balls, who writes the leading newsletter on the topic, and he advises that he has not seen this ball before, either! So, at this point, not having heard from anyone else that has one, we\'re thinking this one probably is unique! Pretty cool, eh?

On Sep-03-13 at 05:22:18 PDT, seller added the following information:

Hi all, thanks again for your interest. I still haven\'t heard from anyone having another one like this one. So I am going to go ahead and say that this Important Honey Yellow BOGARDUS Target Ball is probably ONE OF A KIND! Bryan at Lakeside