MARIANNA, Fla. – A major on-site auction featuring items from the estate of the Floye E. Brewton, 2006 Citizen of the Year in Marianna and former owner of the 1840 House Antique Shop there, will be conducted Saturday, Aug. 28, by The Specialists of the South Inc. LiveAuctioneers will facilitage Internet live bidding.
The sale will be conducted at 4359 Lafayette St. (U.S. Route 90) in Marianna, a town located along Interstate 10 in the Florida panhandle. The house is just one of many historic properties that Brewton bought and renovated during his long and fruitful life. It is known as the McKinnon House.
Brewton was originally from McDavid, Fla., but he adopted Marianna as a second home. He went there in the early 1980s to build a hotel on property he purchased near the interstate, but a dilapidated train depot caught his eye while he was in town.
The depot was identical to the one he remembered as a boy growing up in Florida, and seeing it in a deplorable state motivated him to want to save and restore it. And that’s what he did. But he didn’t stop there. Over the next couple of decades, Brewton purchased and renovated many other historic properties.
By the time he died in March, Floye Brewton had become one of Marianna’s most beloved citizens. Now, many of the items he acquired for his home and business will be available to the highest bidder. Also selling that day will be five storage units filled with Continental antiques that have been kept in a climate-controlled environment for five years.
Furniture items will include a 20th-century corner cabinet with string inlay, several French-style bombe commodes, an outdoor patio set with heart-shaped Gothic design, an 11-foot by 16-foot floral Kerman Karastan rug in the #747 pattern, and a tapestry piece from one of the storage units with a figural landscape design.
Artwork will include oil portraits of Fisher Gleason (1790-1846) and Sally Harley Gleason (1792-1853), thought to be the great aunt and uncle of Walter Cronkite, in wide gilt frames; a plaster cast plaque in Classical motif of a mother and child with cherub, 28 inches in diameter; and an oil on canvas of Walter Jacob Robinson (1820-1890) in an ornate gilt frame.
Other art will include four framed architectural engravings by Deneufforge, tagged original prints, Paris, circa 1900; a pair of metal sculptural “Wildcats” signed by T. Cartier, both 19 1/2 inches tall; a bronze scalloped vide-poche depicting sea gods, signed G. Michel, 10 1/2 inches tall; an original charcoal work by Alice Louella Fidler; and a watercolor by W. McGrath.
Orientalia will feature a pair of blue and white 19th century-style Chinese vases and a late 19th century-style Southern Chinese marriage chest, wood, with red and black lacquer and gilded carved inserts with figural motifs. Silver will include a Gorham flatware set in the Strasbourg pattern, and a repoussé sterling flatware set, 61 1/2 troy ounces, and a Reed & Barton carving set.
Decorative accessories will include an outstanding Federal three-arm girandole 19th-century mirror in a gilt wood and gesso frame with convex mirror surmounted by a carved spread eagle, spelter figurines, cloisonné, a trumeau-style mirror, a Victorian fire screen with carved pierced crest and tapestry inset, and a wonderful hand-painted ceramic desk set stamped “Orlik, Germany.”
Lamps and lighting will illuminate the saleroom. Expected top lots include a pair of candelabra with prisms and marble bases, a nice wooden floor lamp with a grid shade and a gorgeous lamp with a camel base.
Additional furniture includes a Federal-style oval table by Johan Tapp marked “707 1/2,” a refectory table with side and armchairs, a gold velvet tufted-back sofa, a marquetry top table with ormolu and a Victorian marble-top dresser with secret drawer.
The live sale will begin at 9 a.m. Central with a preview scheduled for 8 a.m.
For details visit the Web site www.SpecialistsoftheSouth.com or call 850-785-2577.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
