INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- An advanced but intentionally low-key collector, the late William D. Bill Ansley amassed a select private collection of contemporary art glass over a 40-year period, and in so doing, created a panoramic three-dimensional history of Murano production. To the amazement of his fellow collectors, Ansley accomplished this feat almost entirely from his home base of Topeka, Kansas, said Dan Ripley, whose Antique Helper Galleries will auction the collection in its entirety in a single-consignor sale on Dec. 19, 2009. In cataloging the collection, I got the feeling that Mr. Ansley probably bought most of the glass in the Midwest, said Ripley. There are pieces in his collection that weve identified in catalogs from early-1990s auctions in St. Louis
Dealers knew what he was looking for, and he would have been the first phone call when a special piece of glass became availabl