J.N. Carlile's 'Eagle Bird' Sand Art Bottle,
Andrew Clemens, McGregor, Iowa, c. 1881.
The large bottle with glass stopper with geometric and scrolling layering of multi-colored sands framing an image of J.N. Carlile's horse 'Eagle Bird' standing in profile with finely rendered body, mane, and tail details standing on an earthy ground with shadows of the horse's legs; the other side with a panel illustrating a detailed view of a locomotive and tender with smoke and steam streaming from the smokestack and whistle, no label on the base.
Overall ht. 8 3/4, dia. 2 3/4 in.

Provenance
Bottle made by Andrew Clemens for James Neal Carlile (1836-1921); to his daughter Harriet Carlile (1870-1954); to her son James c. Whitfield (1902-1992; to his son George V. Whitfield (1927-2018); and to the present descendant/consignor.

Literature
This bottle is illustrated and described in Roy Sucholeiki, The Sand Art Bottles of Andrew Clemens (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2015), pp. 43-44.

Note
James N. Carlile's life is well documented in The History of Arkansas Valley, Colorado (Chicago: O.L. Baskin & Co., 1881), p. 787, excerpted as follows:

'The Hon. James N. Carlile was born in Carroll County, Ohio, October 17, 1836. His school advantages were the same as those of the majority of the district school scholars in our free American Republic until he was fourteen years old. During his school attendance, he acquired only a vague and indistinct knowledge of the text-books he studied, and owes more to his inherent ability than to education for being one of the widest known railroad contractors in the United States. At the age of fourteen, he began his railroad experience by driving a cart on the Pan Handle Railroad, which has proven to be the stepping-stone to the pinnacle which he has attained. He successfully farmed in Iowa, mined two years in French Gulch Colo., and freighted four years with wagon teams in the Territories of New Mexico, Colorado - then a Territory,- Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and Montana. In 1868, he again began railroading, as a member of the firm of Moore & Carlile, railroad contractors and builders. Then built from Cheyenne out forty miles of the Denver Pacific Railroad in ten months, and in four months built the Colorado Central Railroad between Denver and Golden; Built the larger part of the Kansas Pacific Railroad from Sheridan to Denver, a distance of two hundred and thirty miles, the only important contractors besides themselves being Fields & Jones, and William Wheeler & Co. They contracted to build, and built nearly all of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad between Denver and Pueblo, and between Pueblo and Canon City. In 1874, Messrs. Orman & Co. became members of the firm, and the title was changed to Moore, Carlile, Orman & Co., who built ninety-seven miles of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Mr. Moore withdrew from the firm in 1877; William Crook was admitted and the firm name changed to Carlile, Orman & Crook. They built the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad from Pueblo to El Moro, and to Alamosa with the exception of a few short distances which were built by subcontractors. They built at least one-half of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad between Canon City and Malta; and all of that road from Leadville to Kokomo - twenty miles; also built between thirty and forty miles of the San Juan extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from Alamosa to Del Norte, and in a contract to build the Utah extension from Tennessee Pass to Red Cliff. He is a farmer of blooded stock and an extensive dealer in horses and cattle. In company with his brothers, W.K. and L.F. Carlile, he owns several herds of high-priced stock. He was sent from Pueblo County by the Democratic party in 1876, to the first Legislature convened in Colorado after it became a State, and was elected County Treasurer of the same county in 1880. The above denotes the popularity and far-reaching financial vim of the subject of this sketch, and it only remains to add - to complete the sketch - that in his beautiful residence on the mesa at South Pueblo, he is a hospitable gentleman and a kind husband and father to an affectionate family.'

Additional biographical history available upon request.