ATLANTA – An outstanding single-owner mechanical music collection, fine decorative arts and furniture from a Palm Beach, Florida philanthropist, original artworks by noted listed artists and fine antique Asian art and objects will be just part of a big, three-day auction planned for Oct. 14-16 by Great Gatsby’s Auction Gallery.
Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.com. Start times will be 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday and 11a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 1,600 lots will come up for bid. The mechanical music collection is that of Marvin Horowitz of Florida, whose passion for these extraordinary pieces he attributes to his life-long interest in mechanical engineering and his early love for the upright player piano his family had in the 1930s.
The star lot of the Horowitz collection is the German Gebruder Bruder 80-keyless fairground organ (above), which features an elaborately painted case that has been expertly restored by the late Michael L. Kitner.
“The Gebruder Bruder is one of the finest examples of mechanical music I have ever seen come to auction,” said Ted Tzavaras, owner of Great Gatsby’s Auction Gallery. “For such a beautiful and well-preserved piece to also produce such a rich, high quality sound is very rare. The music transports you back in time to when these types of instruments were popular.”
Additional items on offer from the collection include a 1920s calliaphone by Tangley Electric (below), an American upright oak and leaded stained glass nickelodeon, and a 1930s Belgian Art Deco beer hall organ by Arburo.
The Belgian Arburo organ (below) will also attract keen bidder interest, with its sleek Art Deco design, vibrant colors and fantastic sound.
Also on offer from Mr. Horowitz’s collection is a fully restored 1926 Ford Model T farm truck he used to transport and showcase the Tangley Calliope at fairs and parades.
From the Palm Beach, Florida collection of Mrs. Beverly Yaeger come a number of discerning pieces of 18th century English furniture. Mrs. Yaeger has enjoyed a celebrated career both in politics and philanthropy from her homes in Tallahassee and Palm Beach. She has held four presidential appointments, first beginning with Ronald Reagan and then continuing with Bill Clinton, most notably as a member of the Selection Committee for White House Fellows.
Pieces from her collection will include a circa 1740 burled Queen Anne highboy, a George III flame mahogany serpentine dressing chest with fitted interior and fold-out mirror, a Regency style handkerchief card table, a George IV mahogany cellarette made circa 1825 of sarcophagus form, and a lovely 19th century English mahogany and Chinoiserie banjo barometer by Sheppard.
A tour de force piece of American furniture will also be offered, in the form of an aesthetic-style mahogany two-door cabinet by the master Cincinnati-based carver William Fry. Dating from 1876 and first commissioned as a wedding present and descended in the family ever since, the 91-inch-tall cabinet features fine bas-relief carvings of acorns, oak leaves and sycamore fruit, plus intricate foliate and acanthus molding with two sides of shelving.
For details contact Great Gatsby’s Auction Gallery at 770-457-1903 or email auction@greatgatsbys.com.