Overview by Carlton Hendricks

I spotted this flask on eBay 20 hours before it would close Feb. 22, 2010. The seller had posted twenty four photos of it from different angles. It appears to be one of those kinds of figural items that are hard to photograph. It's an exquisite piece but I believe hard to get it across  in photos. So having twenty four shots helped a lot to comprehend it, and comprehend it I did!

First of all, I've never seen another example. It looks exactly like the kind of piece I'd happen into at the Hillsborough show from a high brow dealer  that didn't know sports, but knew his or her area enough to know it was an out there piece. I'd say it's probably in the "museum piece" category. Of course you can put anything in a museum, so that's just kind of an over used term. But this really is a strong candidate. It's unique, likely American, and stunning. The seller put in the description that it may be by Gorham, but I'm not so sure. As I recall, my cursory knowledge tells me Gorham numbers started with a Q. But that might be for the bronze pieces...no matter, it's great and that's all that matters. To get to the bottom of it I will ask my friend and Internationally recognized silver expert Judy Redfield to review this feature after I post this.

So the race, or I should say boxing match, was on. Twenty hours to countdown and I had to put a plan together immediately. How much to put down was the question. Twenty hours is just enough time to gather your thoughts...plenty of time to go back to my computer at least a dozen times to look at it over and over....and ponder.

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