Major estate sale will be held Saturday, March 17, by Stevens Auction in Aberdeen. Miss. History, legend and antiquity will all converge on Saturday, March 17, when Stevens Auction Company will offer the living estate of Brenda McCarthy of Tupelo, Miss., at an auction in Aberdeen, Miss.
News-Antique.com - Feb 29,2012 - (ABERDEEN, Miss.) – History, legend and antiquity will all converge on Saturday, March 17, when Stevens Auction Company will offer the living estate of Brenda McCarthy of Tupelo, Miss., at the firm’s spacious gallery located at 609 North Meridian Street in Aberdeen, beginning promptly at 10 a.m. (CST). Other prominent Southern estates will also cross the block.
Mrs. McCarthy’s estate contains antique furnishings and other items from the Memphis, Tenn., home of Margaret Polk, McCarthy’s mother-in-law’s sister. Ms. Polk was the fiancée of Capt. Robert K. Morgan, a pilot in the legendary B-17F Flying Fortress. His plane, the Memphis Belle, was so-named because he liked Southern belles -- and Margaret Polk was a Southern belle.
Through her father, Oscar B. Polk, Ms. Polk was also related to James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States. But her family did pretty well, too, as Oscar B. Polk was a banker, real estate developer, cotton broker and one of the largest landowners in Mississippi and Arkansas, where he presided over thousands of acres of cotton land, as his father did before him.
Mr. Polk built a stately, three-story Queen Anne home in Memphis and had it filled with furnishings custom-made especially for him by the R.J. Horner Company of New York, the revered 19th century furniture maker. Many of these same one-of-a-kind Horner pieces will be featured in the auction. Each piece was lovingly hand-crafted by Horner artisans from 1890-93.
The sale will not be limited to furniture pieces. Also sold will be hundreds of outstanding antiques, to include china, silver, rugs, light fixtures, works of art and many other items. One lot certain to attract keen bidder interest is a palace-size, four-piece burl walnut half tester Aesthetic Movement bedroom suite with a white marble top (10 feet 7 inches tall). It is truly magnificent.
The auction's main event promises to be the items from the McCarthy estate and, more specifically, the Horner pieces. Previews for the auction will be held on Friday, March 16, from 10-7, and on Saturday, March 17 (the date of sale) from 8 a.m. until the start time of 10 a.m.
The name Horner will be chanted frequently throughout the auction. Some expected top lots will include an oak parlor suite with beautifully detailed carved heads in the arms, boasting the original finish; and a mahogany three-door bookcase with Atlas statue sides and curved glass on the center door (60 inches tall by 84 inches wide by 20 inches deep, in all original condition).
Other Horner pieces will feature a mahogany full griffin slant front desk with exceptional carvings and a hidden drawer; a mahogany library table with full body standing Atlas legs, carved all around on a 6-inch skirt, in all original condition; and a mahogany full standing griffin sofa with deep carved back and the griffins standing 31 inches tall, also in all original condition.
Also by Horner will be a heavily carved oak sideboard with winged griffin crown and china cabinet top
