Ahlers & Ogletree estates auction boasts famous names Feb. 8

ATLANTA – A Winter Estates Auction packed with more than 500 premier lots in a wide array of categories – some of them with connections to iconic luminaries ranging from JFK and Elvis Presley to Abraham Lincoln and Marilyn Monroe – will be held on Sunday, Feb. 8, by Ahlers & Ogletree, in the firm’s gallery at 715 Miami Circle, starting at 11 a.m. EST.

LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The auction will feature duck decoys, animal taxidermy trophy mounts, militaria (including World War II items), collectible coins, a fabulous group of vintage guitars, original artwork, baby boomer items that include a 1950s Coke machine and a ’50s-era Seeburg jukebox, and items from the prominent African-American figures Booker T. Washington and J.R. Clifford.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was an educator, author and orator from 1890-1915 and the dominant leader in the African-American community. Items from his private estate will include correspondence, personal items (including his monogrammed napkin ring), handwritten Tuskegee Institute documents, and large circa 1870s/1880s ambrotypes, one by John Karl Hillers (German/American, 1843-1925), titled A General View of Zuni, and one by James Fennemore (American, 19th century), titled Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Looking West.

A related lot, but more recent, is a complete collection of both the Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver U.S. commemorative half-dollars – 28 coins in all, from the Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco mints, struck between 1946 and 1951. Also, items consigned by the granddaughter of J.R. Clifford (1848-1933), a civil rights pioneer, will be sold.

A wooden section of the platform from John F. Kennedy’s last official speech, delivered at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas on Nov. 21, 1963, the day before his assassination, will come up for bid. The platform was divided up into four sections; one was given to Mrs. Kennedy. Also, a baseball signed in green pen by the Georgia Peach (“Ty Cobb, 12/16/59”; not authenticated) will be sold.

Fans of vintage guitars and popular music will have a field day with what’s in the auction: Justin Bieber’s personal 2010 Gibson Les Paul Studio left-handed solid body electric guitar; a 1968 Gibson B. Kessel cherry Sunburst hollow body electric guitar signed by Ringo Starr; and a 1965 Gretsch Chet Atkins hollow body electric guitar, Nashville Orange finish, with the original case.

Additional guitars will include a 1969 (or 1970) Fender Telecaster solid body electric guitar with applied circular Grateful Dead logo; a 1964 Gibson ES335 Bigsby hollow cherry body electric guitar; a 1987 Martin D-41 acoustic guitar with abalone inlay, rosewood back and sides; and a 1967 Gibson ES345 Sunburst archtop stereo electric guitar. All are accompanied by their cases.

Two photographs are bound to attract attention. One is a photo print of a nude Marilyn Monroe, reclining on a red velvet expanse (from Playboy magazine’s inaugural issue in 1953). The photo is signed by the photographer, Tom Kelly (American, 1914-1984). The other is an original photograph of Abraham Lincoln, believed taken on July 4, 1856, before the Lincoln-Douglas debates, by R. Hodgman (Princeton, Ill.). It comes with an 1865 newspaper account of Lincoln’s assassination.

The Elvis lot is a framed presentation, consisting of a 24K gold-plated record of his “Aloha From Hawaii” concert from 1973, cover art from the album, three concert tickets from 1977 (two from Savannah, Ga., one from Terre Haute, Ind.), and a photo of Presley. Also sold will be a men’s Rolex Tudor “Tiger” watch with a black leather band and paperwork signed by Tiger Woods.

Sportsmen in the crowd will be drawn to a rare carved wood and polychrome Drake Widgeon decoy made during the 1930s by Benz Wood Products Co. (Jefferson City, Mo.), and a late 19th century Springfield Model 1884 trapdoor rifle and bayonet with U.S. Army brass.

Two paintings depicting ducks in flight by the Italian-born Atlanta artist Athos R. Menaboni (1895-1990), both gouache under glass, will come under the gavel. One, titled Mallard, depicts a male and female mallard in flight and is pencil signed and titled. The other, titled Black Duck, shows a male and female black duck in flight, also pencil signed and titled. Both are framed.

An original oil on canvas painting by the British artist David G. Steell (1856-1930), titled Horses in a Field, measuring about 37½ inches by 52¼ inches (framed) and showing two pairs of horses among grassy rolling hills, is signed and dated. Also sold will be a circa 1800s handcarved and painted model of the Connecticut Navy ship the Oliver Cromwell, carved by Samuel Chapman, who served in the Connecticut Navy during the Revolutionary War.

Baby boomers will be transported back in time when they see a Silver Age 1958 Seeburg Model 161 Select-O-Matic jukebox with twin grill fins (1958 selling price: $1,275); the Vendo Coca-Cola vending machine (Model H81-D), produced in the mid-to-late 1950s, holding up to 81 bottles and with a 10-cent coin mechanism; and the black leather couches built into the back ends of actual 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Airs – with working tail lights.

Bidders wishing to participate online should register with their platform up to 24 hours prior to auction. Phone and absentee bids will be taken up to 24 hours prior to sale. Inquiries regarding bidding may be made via e-mail (bids@aandoauctions.com) or by telephone, at 404-869-2478.

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