CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. – Fifteen stunning gowns and dresses previously owned by the late singing legend Whitney Houston, some worn on-stage and others at events and galas, will be exhibited – but but not sold – at an auction slated for Saturday, April 4, by Historical Estates Auctions, in the firm’s gallery located at 103 Industrial Drive.
“All of the dresses carry a story and all are absolutely gorgeous,” said Conny Dixon of Historical Estates Auctions. “The most important one of the group is a gold and white dress designed by Bob Mackie. All these dresses were important to her career and the public will be viewing them for the first time. We will be offering the dresses at auction, probably sometime later this year.” The dresses will actually be available for viewing the day before the auction, on Friday, April 3, at a preview for the next day’s auction. The preview will last all day. On auction day, a mini-preview will be held from 9-11 a.m., then the auction will begin immediately after that, at 11 a.m. Central time.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
While the dresses, which Dixon has dubbed “The Greatest Dresses of All,” in honor of Houston’s hit single, The Greatest Love of All, are certain to be an attraction, the items to be sold will be nearly as mesmerizing for the assembled throngs. Quality lots, in a rainbow of categories, mostly pulled from prominent estates and collections, will be sold to the highest bidder on Saturday. Offered will be fine 18th and 19th century American and Continental furniture, porcelains, Persian rugs, chandeliers, estate jewelry, silver, fine artwork, bronzes, guns and Civil War items. Many of the items are coming to market out of important Tennessee collections, as well as an estate in Kansas City, Mo.
Period furniture will feature a rare 15-piece R.J. Horner dining room suite, with a china cabinet, sideboard, 60-inch table and 12 chairs, all heavily carved; a large, impressive 18th century Dutch burl walnut linen press in fine original condition (with the old shipping label from Amsterdam to Christie’s in London); and a 19th century Louis XV-style needlepoint and petit point walnut sofa.
Additional furniture will include a large, heavily carved cabinet on full-body winged griffins, with a fall front and two drawers (6 feet 8 inches long); a Herter Brothers scenic inlaid rosewood side cabinet; a Pottier & Stymus Egyptian Revival mahogany and gilt sofa; a six-piece rosewood J. & J.W. Meeks parlor suite with recamier; and a Meeks parlor cabinet in the Henry Ford pattern.
The fine art category will feature a 19th century oil on canvas rendering of a mother and children, housed in an ornate gilt wood frame; an important bronze depiction of an Egyptian princess, cast in 42 plaques to achieve the overall effect (signed lower left, “Chicago, Ill., AP”); and a fantastic pair of carved figures – a male hunter and a female huntress – impressive and life-size, 6 feet tall.
Decorative accessories and collectible items will include a carved Black Forest pipe showing a bear; a carved Meerschaum pipe of a hunter; a lovely pair of Sevres covered urns; a Meissen floral-encrusted clock with putti, depicting the four seasons; an original Venetian glass grape bunch chandelier; and a monumental bronze and sienna marble clock, 3 feet 3 inches high.
Militaria will feature a Henry rifle with all matching serial numbers (#10976); a pearl-handled Bowie knife, 10 1/2 inches long, signed “Hansen”; a Colt 1860 U.S. Army revolver, .44 caliber, dated 1862; an Urwin Rogers knife-pistol with bullet mold, tweezers and cap box in the handle; a Colt single-action revolver, .44 caliber, dated 1877, with notches in the grip; a Colt Model 3 derringer, circa 1880s, .44 caliber; and a nickel-plated 1860s Remington derringer, .44 caliber.
Still more furniture to be auctioned will be a fine Renaissance Revival scenic marquetry inlaid rosewood center table; a set of 10 18th century dining chairs with the original paint decoration in a musical motif, once used at a Virginia plantation; and a Renaissance Revival gilt incised leather swivel desk chair. An expected star lot of the fine jewelry category is a tanzanite and diamond necklace.
Historical Estates & Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, call 662-770-0270.
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