Estate of Virginia Sykes to be sold in Mississippi Mar. 27 The estate of the late Virginia Sykes, a longtime resident of Aberdeen, Miss., will be sold at an on-site auction on Saturday, Mar. 27, beginning at 10 a.m., by Stevens Auction Co., based in Aberdeen.
News-Antique.com - Mar 10,2010 - (ABERDEEN, Miss.) - The estate of the late Virginia Sykes, a longtime resident of Aberdeen, Miss., will be sold at an on-site auction on Saturday, Mar. 27, beginning at 10 a.m., by Stevens Auction Company, based in Aberdeen. The absolute auction (everything goes, regardless of price) will be held at 301 High Street in Aberdeen, located about 35 miles southeast of Tupelo, Miss., on U.S. Route 45.
“Mrs. Sykes' story is one of history, romance, dedication and Southern grace, all of which can be seen through the wonderful collection of antiques and fine items she gained over nearly 70 years in Aberdeen,” said Dwight Stevens of Stevens Auction Company. He said a preview of the items would be held on Friday, Mar. 26, from 10-6, and that doors to the auction would open on Saturday at 8 a.m.
Furniture items will include a Regency-style bracket foot mahogany china cabinet with 13 pane doors, while clock aficionados will be intrigued by a circa-1780 crotch mahogany Scottish grandfather clock by John Munro (Glasgow, Scotland), hand-painted on the face with a scene of an Irish clan. Also certain to get paddles wagging is a fine gold Victorian 2-piece marble-top pier mirror, made circa 1850.
Decorative accessories will be served up in abundance. Examples include a Tiffany & Co. hand-engraved, sterling silver rectangular double vegetable dish, 46.6 troy ounces; a brass 4-light gasolier with four etched satin glass shades and prisms, 40 inches tall; and a Gorham helmet-shaped sterling silver heavy tea service with four seasons masks and lion, and shield finials (coffee, tea, cream, sugar).
Also sold will be a Victorian Italian center bowl with hand-painted and embossed flowers with bronze mounts, 12 ½ inches in diameter; a round sterling footed fruit bowl (London, 1899), hand chased, 8 inches by .75 inches and weighing 16.2 troy ounces; and a sterling silver cake server set (knife and fork), still in the original presentation box and made circa 1851 by Black Ball & Company.
Paper and coin money will also cross the block, to include a Series 1929 ten-dollar bill, on The First National Bank of Aberdeen, signed by Eugene L. Sykes, Mrs. Sykes' late husband; and numerous solid gold Krugerrand coins from the 1980s in fabulous condition.
Mrs. Sykes was a true Southern lady – independent, warm, gracious and perpetually kind. She was the daughter of a banker from Camden, Tenn., and she skipped a college education to start her own trucking business right out of high school. Her firm hauled chert for Southern companies. In the spring of 1942, while in Aberdeen on business, she met Eugene L. Sykes, Jr., and it was love at first sight.
By the summer of that year, the two were married and Mrs. Sykes became very active in the Aberdeen community. She also assisted in her husband's varied business interests, helping him manage Sykes Plantation just outside of town and the Sykes Commission Company, a farm supply business. Mr. Sykes also sat on the Board of Directors
