KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Art, antiques, jewelry and historical objects from two Tennessee plantations – Devon Farm of Nashville and Hamilton Place of Maury County – will be offered July 30, as part of the Summer Case Antiques Auction, to be held at the company’s gallery in Knoxville.
The single-day auction, packed with nearly 1,000 lots, also includes international antiques and art deaccessioned by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, and from numerous other estates and private holdings – including collections of silver, mid-century art and furniture, graded gold coins, and Asian antiques.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The Devon Farm collection comes from the estate of Sarah Hunter Hicks Green, who descended from an early Nashville settler and surveyor, John Davis (1770-1853). Davis’s grandson, Edward Dickson Hicks, went to the Gold Rush, enlisted in the Confederate Army, directed two railroads and developed Devon Farm into an internationally known breeding site for Devon cattle. The farm and mansion were added to the National Register in the 1970s. Family items include the brass compass used by John Davis to survey Nashville in the late 1700s; a rare 19th century panoramic painted view of Nashville; the Devon Farm sugar chest, sideboard, and butler’s desk; family portraits and silver; Civil War weapons and diaries; and gold rush, railroad and world’s fair archives.
Mrs. Green was also the last descendent of noted Nashville photographers Otto and C.C. Giers. Her collection boasts the Giers’ archive of over 500 CDVs and albumen prints of images ranging from the Civil War period to the early 1900s, including images of Union and Confederate officers.
The estate of Jean Yeatman features objects that formerly graced Hamilton Place plantation just outside Columbia, Tennessee. The mansion, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1832 by Lucius Junus Polk (a cousin of James K. Polk, who married Andrew Jackson’s niece, Mary Eastin). The house hosted President Jackson, President Polk and President Martin Van Buren during its heyday and descended in the family until the early 2000s. Items being sold include a sugar chest, cellarette, and corner cupboard, cased revolver belonging to CSA Lt. Col. Henry Clay Yeatman, portraits, Grand Tour items, and coin and sterling silver.
Leading the international fine art category is a large abstract oil by Filipino artist Fernando Zobel de Ayala y Montojo (1924-1984), along with two drawings by the artist. All exhibit Zobel’s characteristic style, influenced by Abstract Expressionism and Asian art and calligraphy. The Zobel works are from the estate of music producer Robert L. Zarbock, and proceeds from the sale will benefit his alma mater, the University of Illinois.
For more information call the Case Antiques Inc. gallery in Knoxville at 865-558-3033 or the company’s Nashville office at 615-812-6096 or email info@caseantiques.com.
