(Aberdeen, Miss.) – Five estates from prominent old families in the Southeastern United States (specifically Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi) will be sold at auction Saturday, Jan. 10, by Stevens Auction Company.
Over 500 lots in an array of categories – beautiful antique furniture, fine porcelains, original artwork, antique lighting, handmade rugs, china, collectibles and more – will cross the block.
“We are pleased to start off the new year with such an incredible antique auction,” said Dwight Stevens of Stevens Auction Company. “It isn’t the easiest thing in the world – pulling together a multi-estate sale right after the holidays – but this is going to be a good one. We’re continuing to post photos of these fine items on our website. I encourage people to visit us online, at www.stevensauction.com.
Mr. Stevens said acquiring quality antiques and collectibles can be a sound investment strategy, even in troubled economic times. “I have a friend who got out of the stock market five years ago and began buying items for his home,” he said. “In that time, he’s seen the value of all that period furniture, fine art and decorative accessories appreciate considerably. And it’s something tangible he can enjoy.”
The auction will begin promptly, at 9 a.m., in Stevens Auction Company’s spacious showroom facility, located at 609 No. Meridian Street in Aberdeen, Miss. A preview will be held on Friday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and in the hour or so before the start of sale on Saturday. A packed house is expected, and phone and absentee bids will be accepted. There will be no Internet bidding component.
“For anyone who’s been looking for an Empire secretary, we’ll be selling seven of them at this auction and they’re all excellent,” Mr. Stevens said. “That’s more than we’ve ever offered at any prior sale. We’ve also got a really nice rosewood Rococo Victorian bookcase, made around 1850, and a very rare rosewood Victorian fire screen, seven feet tall, with needlepoints and pedipoints, from circa 1855.”
Paddles are sure to wag for a beautiful three-piece Victorian half tester bedroom suite, walnut (circa 1860); a four-piece walnut Victorian bedroom suite with grape carvings (circa 1860); a 12-piece walnut dining room suite (with eight chairs, table, server, sideboard and china cabinet); a set of 14 mahogany Chippendale dining room chairs (circa 1910); and an awesome Empire classical pier table.
The sale will also feature four marble-top base etageres, one about eight feet tall (circa 1860s all); an Empire banquet table, ten feet long by five feet wide, and with claw feet; a very unusual Gothic flame mahogany Empire sewing table (circa 1840); and Sheffield pieces, to include a large turkey dome with hot water filler underneath, wine buckets with stag heads and a cannon-style wine holder.
Also slated to come under the gavel will be several nice Old Paris pieces from the 1850s; about 25 great old clocks (to include a dore bronze statue clock, a three-piece set of marble clocks, and several marble mantel clocks – all from around the 1880s); 19th-century lighting, to include astral and aragon lamps; original artwork, to include Southern portraits; china; porcelain; Sevres; and Limoges.
Reserve seating is available, with advance arrangements. Same for phone bids. Refreshments will be available the day of auction, at the on-site concession stand. For accommodations, please call the Best Western Aberdeen Inn, at (662) 369-4343. Terms are cash, all major credit cards or pre-approved check. All sales are final. The buyer’s premium of 12 percent will be applied to all purchases.
Stevens Auction Company is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them at (662) 369-2200. Or, you may e-mail them at [email protected] Most of the firm’s auctions are conducted at the showroom facility in Aberdeen, but Mr. Stevens has also held numerous on-site auctions throughout the Southeastern states.
Mr. Stevens founded Stevens Auction Company in 1984 out of a lifelong interest in antiques and architecture. He turned what had been a hobby into a full-time profession, attending the Missouri Auction School in Kansas City, Mo., from which he graduated as a certified appraiser. He joined the National Auctioneers Association and later helped organize the Mississippi Auctioneers Association.
In the early days, Stevens Auction Company sold anything and everything, from grocery stores to farm equipment. But over the years, the firm became specialists in the marketing and selling of antiques, as well as the organization and management of large estate auctions. Today, the company holds estate auctions at some of the most prominent old homes in the South, not just in Aberdeen, Miss.
In June 2002, Stevens Auction Company purchased the historic Adams-French Mansion, at 301 Meridian Street in Aberdeen, to be its premier auction facility. A fire gutted the mansion in June 2006, and since then Mr. Stevens has spent time and money restoring and refurbishing the home to its original splendor. Now, with the restoration complete, Mr. Stevens uses the mansion as his primary residence.
For more information about Stevens Auction Company and the Jan. 10 multi-estate sale, please visit www.stevensauction.com. Or, you may call them at (662) 369-2200.