Northwood Grape & Cable Ice Blue Standard Size Punch Bowl Set

I purchased this cute standard size Northwood Ice Blue punch bowl set during the April, 29, 2011 Sunshine State Club convention auction in Orlando, Florida. The bulk of the auction featured the John & Loretta Neilsen Collection plus others. This punch bowl once belonged to Rick Stockhill of Lansing, Michigan.

Here is the description Jim Wroda gave it in his catalog. "Extremely RARE Northwood Ice Blue Grape & Cable 8pc standard punch set. Just 1 of a couple known. First one to sell at auction in decades! This could be just as RARE as the master set. Nice Dark color."

I thought about it for a long time before auction day came. As a punch bowl collector, this was one of the top ten items in terms of rarity. As nice as it was though, I had resigned myself from buying it because of the hype and the projected selling price it was sure to bring. It was up there and I wasn't prepared at that time. I was pretty new to the world of Carnival in terms of hard core collecting. I think what a difference just a few years makes!

I was sitting in the back row when the bidding started. I raised my hand a couple of times at the beginning but I stopped and sat back after the bidding got fast and furious with bids coming in from all over the room. I did not raise my hand again after that and I felt a twinge of regret when the bidding was over. This is because the hammer fell at a price that was half of what I thought it would bring. Someone behind me bought it and I was happy to see it was someone I knew, although not very well. I asked my friend, Gary Heavin, if he could please negotiate with this buyer to see if he would sell it to me. He did ask and he struck up a very fair deal for both of us. I sure am a lucky girl. I'll never forget this moment.

The last photo is from the Wroda Auction catalog. If it looks a little creased and wrinkled it's because I squeezed the life out of it by mistake during the bidding.

After this auction, I loaded up my rental car and headed off to the Tampa Bay Club Convention which was to take place that following week. It was two weeks of back to back excitement! The Sunshine State Carnival Glass Club is no longer together and I will miss it very much.

The main photo of this punch bowl was very difficult to take. It is more photogenic with a darker background, as you can see in the rest of the photos. As much as I love pastels, they are so difficult to relay and share in photos to show their true colors and essence. I hope I have done this little gem justice. I'm not sure but I think it is the only one in perfect condition reported. There may be one or two more examples known out there. David Doty lists only one on his site. It's this one, sold in 2011. I must say I am so very grateful for Mr. Doty. He has preserved the history of so much of our precious glass. DDOTY.COM is an every day part of my life. Thank you David for all you have done for us! I salute you!

The Christina Katsikas Collection