[PA-NJ Glassblowers] Long-Missing Rare Glass Bottle Returning To Wistar Institute

Tony Patti tonyspatti at comcast.net
Tue Jun 4 21:14:22 EDT 2013


I thought this was an interesting story, certainly for people interested in
antique glass bottles, 

but the nexus is our target geography of Philadelphia and New Jersey
glassblowing.

And this must be my first email with a quotation from the FBI Art Crime
Team!

 

http://antiquesandthearts.com/news/2013/05/21/long-missing-rare-glass-bottle
-returning-wistar-in/179869

 

http://antiquesandthearts.com/files/imagecache/locus_region_main/2013/05/21/
Stolen_Wistar_Bottle.jpg

 


PHILADELPHIA, PENN. — A piece of American history will be returning home.

 

A rare glass bottle made by Caspar Wistar, New Jersey’s first glassmaker who
began the first successful glass factory in the American colonies, was in
the Wistar Institute’s collection in Philadelphia until sometime after 1958
when it disappeared from the collection. It has been close by these last few
years — at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it has been on loan.

 

The 8¾-inch-tall dark green bottle bears the initials of Richard Wistar, the
eldest son of Caspar Wistar. It is one of only two known existing Caspar
Wistar bottles with the “RW” seal; the other is in the collection of the
Corning Museum of Glass. Caspar Wistar’s bottles were made of impure green
glass using a formula in use since the Middle Ages. They were designed to
resemble popular European bottles of the day.

 

“We’re entirely thrilled,” said Nina Long, the institute’s director of
library services and archivist, also curator of the Wistar museum
collections. Long noted that the bottle will remain on loan at the museum
until 2014, with the institute now listed as its owner. New exhibition space
is being opened up at the institute and the bottle may go on public view
there next year, or it may be on extended loan to the museum, she said this
week.

 

After investigating the theft of some unrelated artifacts for the institute,
authorities found the bottle on loan to the museum in 2011, and a civil
agreement was reached with the purported owner to return ownership to the
institute.

 

The Wistar Institute is a cancer research center named for Caspar Wistar and
founded in 1892 by his great-nephew General Isaac Jones Wistar. The
institute is the repository for the Wistar museum archives, including items
relating to the Wistarburgh glass factory that began in 1739 near Alloway,
N.J.

 

Charles M. Oberly III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware,
and Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge, Philadelphia Field Division,
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), recently announced the agreement
reached to return the bottle.

 

The circa 1745–55 bottle was granted to the institute by Isaac Wistar in
1905. Cataloged in the Wistar inventory, the bottle was taken without
permission after 1958. The bottle was said to have been purchased from an
unclaimed storage locker sometime later and sold by various antiques dealers
on several occasions.

 

Oberly said, “The return of this rare bottle to the Wistar Institute is the
result of the joint efforts of this office and the FBI Art Crime Team. I
commend all parties for their efforts in producing this positive outcome.
Artifacts like this glass bottle are an important part of American history.
I am pleased it can be returned to its rightful owner.”

 

David L. Hall, Assistant United States Attorney, Special Prosecutor, FBI Art
Crime Team, investigated the case. Asked for advice to collectors who might
find themselves in a similar situation, especially when thefts predate the
Internet and national stolen art databases, Hall said, “It does make it
harder and it’s not an uncommon problem. Sometimes long periods pass between
the theft and the recovery; the best approach in terms of provenance
research is to be proactive.”

 

For additional information, contact Oberly or Hall at 302-573-6277.
—A. Valluzzo

 

 


Tony Patti
  
 <http://www.glassblower.info> www.glassblower.info
  
 <mailto:gaffer at glassblower.info> gaffer at glassblower.info

 <http://www.glassblower.info/qr-code.html> QR Code for Tony Patti -
www.glassblower.info

 

 

 

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