Lunch-hour heist: Man allegedly robbed estate jewelers while on trial

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) – A man on trial for robbery was arrested Friday after the jury delivered a guilty verdict. His crime? Authorities say he pulled a heist while on a lunch break from his trial a day earlier.

The Tennessean reports that police waited for a jury’s decision in Mark Burgin’s trial before immediately charging him in the theft of $45,000 worth of jewelry from a nearby Franklin, Tenn., jeweler.

Burgin had been on trial for the 2009 knifepoint robbery of a man at a truck stop. While on his lunch break Thursday he allegedly grabbed the jewelry and rushed out.

A clerk noticed he was wearing a Rolex watch, and saw that a nearby display watch was missing. The clerk confronted him about the watch and he returned it. But when the clerk noticed several other pieces missing and asked Burgin about them, he fled and apparently returned to court about a block away.

“He was just a grab and run,” said Mike Walton, owner of Walton’s Antique and Estate Jewelry.

Police matched Burgin’s description from witness accounts. His probation was revoked and he spent the night in jail before returning to his trial Friday. He was convicted later that evening.

The robbery was common knowledge around the courthouse, but Judge Robbie Beal kept the news from the jury while the trial wrapped up – other than to note that Friday’s lunch break wouldn’t be as long.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Peachtree & Bennett putting on the Ritz with Oct. 8-9 auction

Mauboussin ruby and diamond brooch, est. $5,000-$8,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Mauboussin ruby and diamond brooch, est. $5,000-$8,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Mauboussin ruby and diamond brooch, est. $5,000-$8,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

ATLANTA –Peachtree & Bennett’s Oct. 8-9 auction promises to wow bidders with Jazz Age lavishness and an array of luxe antiques and art to satisfy even the most discriminating collector.

The company is celebrating its first year in the Atlanta area with an auction that features property from the estates of actor George C. Scott, artist Louise Nevelson and character actor Lou Jacobi. The sale also includes high-end merchandise acquired from fashionable Park Avenue and Upper East Side addresses in Manhattan. Additionally, a large selection of fine silver kept in storage in Fairfield County, Conn., and property from North Shore Towers on Long Island will be available.

From the Atlanta Metro area comes property from the exquisitely decorated Buckhead residence of a well-established interior designer, and property from the estate of Michael Deskey, whose father, Donald Deskey, was a renowned 20th-century furniture designer.

Vintage automobile aficionados will marvel at the classic first edition 1966 Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce complete with all original parts, paint and distinctive hood ornament. A newly restored 1928 Overland Whippet will also breeze across the auction block.

The fine jewelry selection is led by a jaw-dropping 8.91-carat, GIA-certified emerald-cut diamond. Also to be auctioned are spectacular diamond and emerald necklaces, a stunning period Art Deco diamond and ruby-encrusted cocktail ring, a Mauboussin diamond and ruby bow-form brooch, and a Tiffany & Co. gold and diamond equine dress pin. A collection of Tiffany & Co. silver pieces totaling hundreds of troy ounces, along with a glittering variety of additional estate jewelry, precious metals and gemstones will also be offered.

Connoisseurs will be jazzed by the stellar gathering of original art. Among the highlights are a landscape oil on canvas from French artist Gustave Loiseau, a bold interior-scene watercolor from German artist Georg Grosz, and Hungarian impressionist artist Francois Gall’s young woman at a vanity. A Karl Witkowski 19th-century oil depicting a street urchin oil, a colorful Cy Twombly abstract pencil on paper are also on the auction roster.

A striking selection of fine bronzes includes an Auguste Rodin bronze bust of a man, reclining mother and child modernist figural group by Russian-American artist William Zorach, and an Edgar Degas female bronze bust.

A mid-century Piero Fornasetti 4-part screen decorated with a trompe-l’oeil image of a bookcase on front and exotic bird aviary on verso is an attractive decorative-art highlight. Another auction star is the charming antique Serves ormolu mounted dresser box.

The sale is rounded out by a fine selection of Italian, French and English antique porcelains; loads of Orientalia, including furniture; and a variety of Satsuma porcelains, objets de vertu, collectibles, Picasso porcelains, a collection of Sevres porcelains, antique and period furniture, decorations and accessories.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 678-705-9798 or email auctions@peachtreebennett.com

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


3-piece Louis XVI parlor suite, est. $3,000-$5,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
3-piece Louis XVI parlor suite, est. $3,000-$5,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Francois Gall oil on canvas painting, est. $4,000-$6,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Francois Gall oil on canvas painting, est. $4,000-$6,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Piero Fornasetti trompe l'oeil folding screen, est. $6,000-$9,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Piero Fornasetti trompe l’oeil folding screen, est. $6,000-$9,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Sevres bronze ormolu mounted box, est. $7,000-$10,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Sevres bronze ormolu mounted box, est. $7,000-$10,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
1928 Overland Whippet, est. $12,000-$18,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
1928 Overland Whippet, est. $12,000-$18,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
8.91-carat emerald-cut diamond, GIA certified, est. $300,000-$500,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
8.91-carat emerald-cut diamond, GIA certified, est. $300,000-$500,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Victorian étagère, possibly Pottier & Stymus. Peachtree & Bennett image.
Victorian étagère, possibly Pottier & Stymus. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Doctor’s estate to strengthen Mealy’s auction Oct. 4-5

Carved giltwood 0vermantel, attributed to John and Francis Booker, basically 18th century, 71inches x 41 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Carved giltwood 0vermantel, attributed to John and Francis Booker, basically 18th century, 71inches x 41 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Carved giltwood 0vermantel, attributed to John and Francis Booker, basically 18th century, 71inches x 41 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

CASTLECOMER, Ireland – Mealy’s Fine Art will sell more than 1,200 lots of fine and decorative art at an auction Tuesday, Oct. 4, and Wednesday, Oct. 5, commencing at 10:30 a.m. each day at its gallery on Kilkenny Road. For those who cannot travel to County Kilkenny, LiveAuctioneers.com will facilitate Internet live bidding.

The sale will include selected items from Lyons Demesne on the instructions of the representative of the late Dr. Tony Ryan (approximately 300 lots); an executor sale of the contents of a period home in the South East; a private collection of family crested Irish and other silver (recently removed from an Irish bank vault); Oriental art from a gentleman’s private family collection, brought out of China before the onset of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937; together with an array of fine and decorative art and other personal property from Irish estates and private collections.

Day one includes ceramics, glass, silver and plate, works of art, Oriental art, tribal art, taxidermy, musical instruments, militaria and edged weapons.

Day two will be 18th, 19th and 20th century furniture, paintings and carpets/rugs, chimney pieces and fire furniture.

Day one highlights include:

203 – Important set of Irish candlesticks (recently removed from bank vault);

451 – star lot, with inscription in Chinese and Manchua, possibly from the Forbidden Palace, inscription hints that this was originally from emperor’s bedroom;

452 – 19th century rhino horn libation cup, very large, already attracting major interest internationally;

453 – 19th century rhino horn carving, same as above;

455 – early Chinese plate, probably early 17th century, with strange image depicted on the front;

597 – Kenyan African elephant foot, with cites license from a private Irish estate;

597A – Leopard skin, also with cites license (as above);

597C – found in Scotland, a massive rack, 9-feet 1-inch wide with 12 points (fossil of now extinct Irish elk, 11,000 years old); and,

598C – Square piano by Southwell (“The Irish Genius”) of Dublin and London.

Day two highlights include:

720 – breakfront library bookcase from Knocktopher Abbey in Kilkenny;

759 – fine cabinet, stately piece from Ryan estate, late 17th century;

851/852 – fine North African suzanis, or wall hangings, rare;

939 – impressive bench, made for the original provincial bank in college green, Dublin (now Westin hotel), designed by G. Murray;

986 – carved giltwood overmantle, Irish , attributed to Booker, basically 18th century;

1019 – early ‘View of New Ross’ by Henrietta Browne Clayton, acquired at clearance sale of Ballinamona Park;

1048 – view of ‘The Lower Lake, Killarney,’ attributed to James Richard Marquis;

1053 – view of ‘Dunbrody Abbey’ by the Hon. Henry Richard Graves; and,

1124 – Boardroom table with provenance, made for the board room of the Guinness Mahon Bank.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Rare four-panel North African Suzani, or wall-hanging, late 19th century / early 20th century, probably Egyptian, with arabic panels and a large roundel with star motif, 99 1/2 inches x 62 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Rare four-panel North African Suzani, or wall-hanging, late 19th century / early 20th century, probably Egyptian, with arabic panels and a large roundel with star motif, 99 1/2 inches x 62 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

 

Ebonised and gilt bronze mounted cabinet, probably Italian, late 17th/early 18th century,  31 1/2 inches x 48 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Ebonised and gilt bronze mounted cabinet, probably Italian, late 17th/early 18th century, 31 1/2 inches x 48 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

 

Massive Chinese carved full-tip rhinoceros horn 'Lotus' libation cup, probably Qing Dynasty, 19th century, 15 1/2 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Massive Chinese carved full-tip rhinoceros horn ‘Lotus’ libation cup, probably Qing Dynasty, 19th century, 15 1/2 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

 

Important set of four Irish cast silver figural table candlesticks by John Walker, Dublin, circa. 1773, 11 1/2 inches tall, 101ounces. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Important set of four Irish cast silver figural table candlesticks by John Walker, Dublin, circa. 1773, 11 1/2 inches tall, 101ounces. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

 

Megaloceros Giganteus, reasonably complete set of antlers of the prehistoric Great Irish Deer, often called the Irish Elk, including 12 points, unmounted spanning 9 feet 1 inch. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

Megaloceros Giganteus, reasonably complete set of antlers of the prehistoric Great Irish Deer, often called the Irish Elk, including 12 points, unmounted spanning 9 feet 1 inch. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.