ATLANTA, GA.- Important art and objects from the estate of the noted American art collector and philanthropist Jack Warner (1917-2017), items salvaged from the wreckage of the passenger steamship RMS Carpathia, and more than 1,000 lots of fine art, period antiques, decorative arts, silver, jewelry and Asian arts pulled from prominent estates and collections will be packed into a massive three-day auction event slated for January 15-17 by Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery.

The event – nicknamed A Collector’s Dream Auction to Start 2021 – will be held live in the Ahlers & Ogletree gallery located at 700 Miami Circle in Atlanta, as well as online, through the company’s relaunched website and bidding platform: www.AandOAuctions.com. Start times all three days are 10 am Eastern time. Pre-bidding has been in effect since December 26th. Gallery previews will be held from January 11th-15th from 10-5 by appointment only, due to COVID-19.

The action will get underway on Friday, January 15th, at 10 am Eastern time with 94 lots of objects retrieved from the RMS Carpathia during a 2007 expedition. Items will include three telegraphs, various stoneware and glassware, portholes, a pair of binoculars and many lots of coal. The Carpathia was built in England in 1903 and rescued survivors of the RMS Titanic in 1912. But the Carpathia herself was sunk in 1918 after being torpedoed by a German submarine.

Later on Friday, at 1 pm, over 100 lots from Jack Warner’s estate will come up for bid. Offered will be paintings by Jasper Cropsey, John Frederick Herring, E.L. Henry, William Aiken Walker, David Leffel, Francis Hopkinson Smith and Patrick Nasmyth; a monumental Western bronze by Dave McGary; Northwest Coast tribal totem poles and boat oar; Asian hard stone screens and embroideries; silver; and fine antiques from America and Europe.

The following two days – Saturday, January 16th and Sunday, January 17th – will feature a Signature Estates Auction. The Saturday session will include fine examples of art and design by Hans Wegner, Raphael Soto, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Ken Payne, Thomas Eakins, Athos Menaboni, and others, plus a large collection of taxidermy, from which the proceeds of the sale will benefit the Georgia Safari Conservation Park in Madison, Ga.

The Sunday session will include antiques and fine art from Great Britain, Italy, France and Europe. Highlights will include original works by Zhang Li, Antoine Bouvard, Henry Scott, Sir Thomas Lawrence and others; a 1971 Mercedes Benz 280SE sedan; a large set of Acorn pattern sterling flatware by Georg Jensen; Zuber Hindustan wallpaper and more.

The art and objects from Jack Warner’s estate (and The Warner Foundation) will be led by an oil on canvas equestrian-themed painting by John Frederick Herring (British, 1795-1865), titled Horses and Goat Eating Turnips and Carrots (1848), signed and dated (est. $90,000-$120,000); and a bronze sculpture by David McGary (American, 1958-2003), titled Bear Tracks, of a Mandan Indian man named Four Bears (est. $60,000-$80,000).

An 1879 oil on canvas by the renowned Hudson School artist Jasper F. Cropsey (N.Y., 1823-1900), titled A Roadside in England, 14 inches by 24 inches (sight, less frame), signed and dated, should bring $40,000-$50,000. Also, an oil on academy board painting by William Aiken Walker (S.C., 1838-1921), of two cotton pickers and a cabin, titled Two Cotton Pickers, in a period gilded oak frame, is expected to realize $9,000-$12,000.

An impressionist watercolor, gouache and mixed media painting by Francis Hopkinson Smith (Md./N.Y, 1838-1915) titled Inn of William the Conqueror, Dives-sur-mer, Normandy (circa 1905), signed, should gavel for $10,000-$15,000; while an oil on board American genre scene by Edward Lamson Henry (S.C./N.Y., 1841-1919), signed, 13 inches by 10 inches (sight), housed in a period frame, is expected to hit $14,000-$18,000.




Fans of Native American objects will be enticed by a pair of Northwest Coast hand-carved and painted cedar totem poles being offered as separate lots (each $3,000-$5,000). One, from the 19th century, is a British Columbia Haida example with a raven, frog, human and bear motif, 82 inches tall. The other, from the 20th century, is a First Nations three-figure totem pole on a stand, with a raven, human and killer whale, 78 ¼ inches tall.

The objects from the RMS Carpathia are historically significant and Ahlers & Ogletree is honored to be selling them. All items come with a conservation/condition report and a certificate of authenticity. Collectors of ocean liner memorabilia will be drawn to these:

• Pair of binoculars with glass lenses, unmarked, 3 ¾ inches wide (est. $500-$700).

• Brass ship’s bridge engine order telegraph on a base, likely made by A. Robinson & Co., Ltd. (Liverpool England, founded 1760), 48 inches tall (est. $500-$700).

• First class Mintons ‘Ormond’ pattern blue and white floral partial pottery saucer with Cunard Line logo, stamped to bottom, 6 ½ inches diameter (est. $300-$500).

• Pepsi-Cola bottle, molded colorless glass with swirled body, the front having raised letters reading “Pepsi-Cola”, a little over 6 ½ inches tall (est. $200-$400).

The Signature Estate Auctions on January 16th and 17th will be highlighted by the circa 1950s personal shag/range bag belonging to Atlanta native and golf legend Bobby Jones, canvas and leather, with Jones’s name stenciled, plus a photo, all in a display case (est. $25,000-$50,000); and B.B. King’s ebony-bodied Gibson electric guitar, “Lucille”, signed on the body, “B.B. King / 2-19-2001”, in a leather case (est. $5,000-$10,000).

Asian lots will be led by an oil on canvas Portrait of a Miao in Traditional Costume (1996) by Zhang Li (Chinese, b. 1958), signed lower right, 32 inches by 25 ½ inches (canvas, less frame) (est. $15,000-$25,000); and a Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) rectangular carved cinnabar lidded box showing a dragon chasing the flaming pearl, 11 ¾ inches by 13 inches, with a character mark to the pearl on the lid (est. $8,000-$12,000).

A late 17th or early 18th century English black lacquered japanned cabinet on a stand, having overall gilt chinoiserie landscape and foliate decoration and double doors, 66 inches tall by 46 ½ inches wide, should sell for $10,000-$20,000. Also, an oil on canvas Portrait of Miss Kent by Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769-1830), apparently unsigned and measuring 30 ¼ inches by 25 inches (sight), is expected to rise to $8,000-$12,000.

A Hans Wegner for Johannes Hansen (Danish) mid-century modern valet chair, designed in 1953, teak and oak with a brass hinged seat and carved rail, the branded maker’s mark to the underside, has an estimate of $7,000-$9,000. Also, an antique suit of armor, Italian or Swiss, in the 17th century style, 66 inches tall with a 67 ½ inch sword, finely detailed, with rope edged elements scattered throughout, on a stand, should make $1,000-$10,000.