Cambridge Nearcut No. 2660 Wheat Sheaf No.108 Green Cologne Bottle

I purchased this and one other green Cambridge NEARCUT Wheat Sheaf cologne bottle, Cambridge No. 2660, on May 31, 2014 from the Bill Richards Sr. collection. It was sold at auction by Tom Burns in Strongsville, Ohio. I couldn't attend the auction so I left bids on both, using the Auction Flex online bidding system, and won them both.

This bottle shown here is complete with its original green stopper whereas the other bottle came with the same stopper but it was crystal clear, not green. I'm happy to have the pair of bottles in hopes of finding the correct green stopper some day.

I was excited to see them in Tom's brochure and thought it was odd (because Tom is so thorough) that the listing only described them each as "Cambridge Cologne Bottle and Stopper - Green (rare and very desirable; radium and nice) without mentioning the name of the pattern. I recognized the pattern immediately as Wheat Sheaf because I had just purchased the only known 32 oz. green Wheat Sheaf whiskey decanter three months previously from Aaron Hurst at the Tampa Bay convention. Yes, I was excited to see the tiny sheafs of wheat in the pattern and I thought I was "one-up" on everyone for knowing its name. Most people wouldn't. It's not that common.  I hoped it would keep the prices on them low, but no such luck!

When Tom called to let me know I had won the bid, he asked me why I purchased these because they seemed out of character for me. He thought they weren't something I'd be interested in. I told him about the decanter I had just purchased and how I knew what the pattern was. With a light bulb moment he fully understood how much sense it now made. "Ahhhhh! That's why!" was his response.

This iridescence on these bottles is not as pretty as the decanter but still pretty, nonetheless. The bottle, without the stopper, measures exactly 6" tall and has a broken pontil that has not been ground. You could easily cut your finger, it's that sharp and crude. The height including the stopper is about 8 3/8" tall.

The stopper, in case someone comes across one for me, is 3" long with the end having been snapped off and left that way without having been ground down smooth. The perimeter of the stopper that fits into the bottle is shiny, not frosty like other stoppers. The top part is six-sided and iridized, though very faintly and silvery at that.

Cologne bottles were made in marigold, green and purple with the stoppers being very difficult to find. I'm sure Bill Sr. spent an eye cast on "smalls" in people's booths at antique shows and shops for years hoping to find the elusive little green stopper. Follow this link for more information about Cambridge Perfumes.

For more information on the Cambridge Glass Club and Museum, please read all about the 32 oz. Wheat Sheaf decanter here on Showcase.

The last two pictures are courtesy of Tom Burns from his catalogue as seen on Auction Flex.

The Christina Katsikas Collection