PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Antique and collectible items spanning multiple categories from four prominent Florida estates will all be rolled into one important auction on Saturday, Feb. 17, by Tthe Specialists of the South Inc. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
The auction will be a feast for the eyes, packed with sterling silver, vintage dolls, furniture, art, pottery and glassware.
The four principal estates break out as follows:
Furniture (some of it antique), china, more than 120 lots of silver, original artwork, lamps, Asian objects and more, consigned by the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, following the death of a longtime supporter who bequeathed the items to the organization. Money realized from the sale of these items will benefit the symphony.
Asian furniture and objects, antique and vintage American furniture, meerschaum pipes, majolica, cloisonné, Limoges, 1930s china and a spectacular hand-built dollhouse from the living estate of David and Sayre Steere. David Steere was the commanding officer of what was then the Coastal Systems Station and Navy Lab in Panama City from 1992 through 1995, as part of a storied 32-year Navy career that began in 1963 at age 17.
The doll and doll accessory collection of Jean Seaman, all of which was handed down to her by her mother, who began collecting in the 1970s. All the dolls are dressed in lovely clothing.
The toy train collection of Leonard “Lucky” Ekman, a former Air Force pilot who received a Lionel train set for Christmas in 1946 and a collection was born. All of the trains and related accessories are either Lionel or Marklin, the latter being the German maker so popular with collectors. Ekman was introduced to Marklin while in Germany in 1949.
A few items from the estate of the patron of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra include a large wooden trunk, probably early 20th century, beautifully carved and very ornate, which was filled with fine silver and other items that will be in the auction; gorgeous lamps, including a Moriage-style lamp, 35 inches tall, and a cut crystal lamp; a Korg portable electric piano keyboard with bench; and a limited-edition serigraph by Erte titled Printemps.
The silver is worth expounding upon because it’s so nice and there’s so much of it. Included are coin silver and sterling silver sets and pieces, to include a five-piece Canadian silver set by Savage Lyman Co., circa 1868-1879, with teaspoons and tablespoons; and some souvenir spoons.
David Steere’s father was a post-World War II Navy captain, and while he was stationed in Japan he and his wife would go off together on shopping junkets. They acquired a taste for exotic and unusual Asian furniture pieces — like the hibachi, an open-topped container used as a heating device. It will be up for bid in the sale.
Also from Mrs. Steere is a Limoges china dinner service for 12, originally purchased in Egypt by her great-grandmother in the 1880s; a majolica pitcher with bird’s nest design; and two blue cloisonné vases that her mother acquired in China in the 1960s.
Jean Seaman’s mother got into doll collecting after Jean was grown and out of the house, mainly as a way to start a hobby, one that would remind her of her bucolic childhood in California and Iowa. She loved her dolls, which number more than 60. She’d trade with other doll collectors and go to the area flea markets and antique shops, but she kept no written record of what she had.
As a result, Jean can’t recite each doll’s history or maker, but The Specialists of the South has done some research and determined the dolls are pre-1940 for the most part, some are German-made and they can all be graded in good to very good condition.
Nearly every piece in the Lionel and Marklin toy train collection of Leonard Ekman is vintage the 1940s and ’50s. For both makers, there are train cars and engines, loads of track and related accessories, to include a remarkable group of built-to-scale buildings modeled after the complex his father was assigned to when he was a post quartermaster in Germany in the 1950s.
For additional information, contact The Specialists of the South Inc. at (850) 785-2577 or contact@sospcfl.com.
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