Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

CONTENTS FROM HISTORIC ANNESDALE MANSION IN MEMPHIS, TENN., PLUS OTHER ESTATES AND AN ANTIQUE GUN COLLECTION, WILL BE SOLD MAR. 13

Auction will be conducted by Hal Hunt Auctions at the firm’s gallery facility in Northport, Ala.

(NORTHPORT, Ala.) – Contents from the historic Annesdale mansion-villa in Memphis, Tenn., plus several other private Southern collections and a marvelous collection of antique guns, will be sold Saturday, March 13, at 10 a.m., by Hal Hunt Auctions. The sale will be conducted at Hal Hunt Auctions’ spacious gallery, located at 5925 Hwy. 43 in Northport.

Annesdsale is a beautiful structure, originally built in 1855 by Dr. Samuel Marsfield as a wedding present for his wife. In 1869, a Mr. Robert Brinkley bought the mansion as a wedding gift for his daughter, Annie Overton Brinkley. The 200-acre estate (pronounced “Annie’s Dale”) was named in her honor. The treasures of Annesdsale comprise five generations of one family.

Gothic bookcase In 1876, Annie and her husband, Col. Robert Bogardus Snowden, spent their wedding anniversary at the Philadelphia Exposition, where they purchased many fine and unique furniture items that will be included in the sale. Their purchases included a 14-foot-long banquet table with matching marble-top sideboard, and a fantastic king-size bed with matching ornate mirror.

In 1932, the Snowdens purchased four magnificent and matching Gothic bookcases (also to be sold, with the sales receipt from 1932 and photographs) from the heirs of Helen Johnstone Harris, known as the ‘Bride of Annandale.’ Annandale is another mansion estate, similar in name to Annesdale, except it was in Madison County, Miss., and burned to the ground years ago.

Ms. Harris was known as the ‘Bride of Annandale’ because, on the eve of her wedding to Henry Vick, he was tragically killed in a duel. Three years later, she married a Confederate Episcopal chaplin, George Harris, and the couple built a mansion at Mt. Helena Plantation in Rolling Fork, Miss. The bookcases and other furnishings were moved by rail to Rolling Fork.

Some of the other items that will be sold at the March 13 auction include a Regina bow-front music box changer made around 1900, playing 15 ½ inch discs and rare because it has a stained glass door, not a plain glass door; numerous pieces of Sevres and Old Paris porcelain; and a John H. Belter rosewood dressing vanity, rosewood bed and étagère in the Rosalie pattern.

Also set to cross the block will be monumental bronze clock sets with cherubs; several pieces of great Pottier & Stymus Victorian furniture; and furniture by R.J. Horner, to include a winged lady’s partner’s desk, a winged desk and dining room table; a triple-door bookcase with Atlas men; and a matched pair of winged griffin lamps tables, about 42 inches in circumference.

Clocks made by R.J. Horner will include an 8 ½-foot-tall mahogany grandfather clock with winged griffins and cherubs, and an oak grandfather clock labeled Tiffany. Also sold will be furniture by Thomas Brooks; a J. & J.W. Meeks laminated marble-top center table; and old paneled glass lamps and leaded glass lamps by makers such as Wilkinson and Chicago Mosaic.

Renaissance-bed The bed furnished by the Snowdens at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 is a high-back Renaissance bed, an oversized queen (almost king) at 69 inches by 82 inches and with bronze plaques. Also purchased at the Exposition was a highly carved black walnut clock, similar to a mantel clock and made by Ferdinand Lapp. The clock was so striking it won awards at the show.

Rounding out the expected top lots: an acanthus carved 4-poster bed, 10 feet tall (from Annesdale); two gold leaf, 8-foot-tall over-the mantel mirrors in original condition (also from Annesdale); a 19th-century rose medallion center bowl with bronze mounts; two walnut Victorian regulator grandfather clocks (one a Gilbert, Regulator #7; and one an Ansonia, Regulator #11); and a monumental Mitchells & Rammelsberg walnut half tester bed, 9 ½ feet tall, circa 1865.

Antique paintings and sterling silver pieces will also cross the block March 13. In all, around 400 lots will come up for bid in a sale that will have no Internet bidding or phone bidding – only an in-house crowd and absentee bids. A preview is scheduled for Friday, March 12, from 10-6. To view photos of many of the lots to be offered, you may log on to www.halhunt.com.

Hal Hunt Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. The firm also purchases items and entire collections for resale at auction. To inquire about consigning or selling an item, an estate or an entire collection, you may call them directly, at (205) 333-2517, or you can e-mail them at [email protected]

For more info, log on to www.halhunt.com