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Not a huge amount of additions to the collection for May, but there are certainly some quality pieces. First is a Sterling silver perfume corkscrew inscribed with a family crest. Next is a beautifully decorated Sterling handled corkscrew with brush inscribed (H.B.F. Dec 25. 1885. & TH monogram); this one may make my Best 6 for the year. Next is a carved boars tusk corkscrew with Sterling inserts followed by a Sterling figural corkscrew. Finally is a bar mounted Cyklop corkscrew; one of my favorites of the more modern bar mounted corkscrews. Stay tuned, more great corkscrews are en route to the collection and offers on entire collections are pending.     
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I was sent a listing for an upcoming estate sale by a fellow collector a few weeks ago. The sale was located in Houston and the description listed a substantial corkscrew collection. A few days later when the pictures were posted, I noticed a couple of nice items including an army of Syroco full bodied corkscrews including clowns, monks, and indians all for $100 each. Other notable pieces include a rare Gundlach corkscrew (bottom picture is not mine, but added for reference since the corkscrew from the estate sale is barely visible). I made a fair offer for the Gundlach and offered some advice on the severely undervalued Syroco pieces, but was quickly turned down. Since it would be about a 9 hour round trip to attend the estate sale and with no guaranteed purchases, I decided not to attend, but hopefully the collection inspired some new corkscrew collectors to start collecting.     We took a week long trip to Nashville last month and saw all of the museums, ate all the good food, and of course searched for corkscrews. We found several corkscrews, but not much worth buying. I did end up purchasing one interesting corkscrew which I had not seen before. It's a large cast figural piece of a mean monkey? with a hat. If you have any information on this piece, feel free to shoot me an email.      I was scrolling through some online auction lots one day and decided to take a closer look at one unassuming lot of corkscrews and bottle openers. There's nothing too interesting in this group, but one item did catch my eye; the unusual looking cast can opener in the bottom right marked COMBI. The unusual cone shaped small helix is very unusual and not something that I can remember seeing before. I tried to find out more information before bidding, but couldn't find a trace of information on this corkscrew, so I took a chance and entered a modest bid. I ended up winning the lot with no other bidders. Upon its arrival, I asked one of my collector friends if he had any information on the item and I was surprised to learn that it's Japanese made. I thought by the look of it that it would be some rare early American made piece. If any collectors interested in rare Japanese corkscrews need this in their collection then drop me a line.   Just a few recent Ebay finds including a beautifully carved stag cow head corkscrew with Sterling silver and two Sterling silver pocket corkscrews.    A couple of lots that I won from a NY based auction house just arrived and almost every piece is rare. Rarities include a rare folding bell corkscrew, French midsize handle folding corkscrew, German Kummer patent with gripping teeth, celluloid folding lady, ladies legs, folding kissing couple among others. More interesting corkscrews on the way!    It's been a good start to the year. The majority of these were purchased from auction houses while the carved alligator was an Ebay find. All of the rarities are in the bottom left corner of the first picture and include a stag horn with carved alligator and Sterling silver crown, rare gasoline pump corkscrew, 2 Swedish direct pressure corkscrews (these came from two separate auction houses, I just happened to end up winning both of them within a week of each other), and a French single lever corkscrew. Certainly some Best Six contenders, and there's some more on the way to the collection. Stay tuned for more corkscrews.      It's been a great year for corkscrew collecting and I have been lucky enough to have acquired some truly amazing pieces. Nearly all of the corkscrews below are in perfect condition.
 I was lucky enough to add several unique corkscrews to my collection in 2024, so much so that coming up with my Best Six for the year proved to be somewhat difficult. I pulled 14 corkscrews which I felt would be worthy examples for my Best Six. Some of these were no brainers to make my Best Six, but deciding which pieces would take the last spots took some time. Stay tuned; the final result is coming soon.     I always wonder why some collectors start posting their Best Six for the year in December when there's still more time in the year for corkscrew collecting. It happened last year and this year as well where the last corkscrew that I acquired in the year managed to make it into my Best Six for the year. I purchased this very rare figural single lever corkscrew with unusual lower brush from a Belgium auction house and it is definitely going to make my 2024 Best Six. It came with this fancy box which I don't believe has anything to do with the corkscrew. If anyone has any information on the box then let me know. All that I have been able to find on Star-Apic is that it is a Belgium based software company. The box does seem somewhat old and has intricate inlaid woods and mother of pearl.      |
James ZalaznikI'm constantly adding new corkscrews to my collection. Any new finds as well as articles which may be of interest to corkscrew collectors will be posted here. Archives
December 2025
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