Items of Pilgrim’s Pride’s co-founder going up for bid
From Antique Trader Antiques Auction News
DALLAS – Items from the estate of Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim (1928-2017), the co-founder of Pilgrim’s Pride, at one time one of the largest chicken producers in the U.S., will be the headliner of a three-day auction planned for Nov. 2-4 by J. Garrett Auctioneers, online and in the gallery at 9203 Diplomacy Row. Most of the merchandise will be sold without reserve.
Also offered will be items from Richard Horton of Fort Worth, Texas, who has amassed a museum-quality collection over the past 50 years.
“This promises to be the auction event of the decade, with some of the finest antiques we’ve had the pleasure to sell,” said Jeff Garrett of J. Garrett Auctioneers.
“Bo” Pilgrim co-founded Pilgrim’s Pride in 1946, when he opened a feed store in Pittsburg, Texas, outside of Dallas. He and his late wife, Patty, became dedicated antiques collectors and traveled the world to furnish their residences with the finest antiques. Many of the items in the sale come from the couple’s mansion home in Pittsburg, nicknamed ‘Cluckingham Palace.’
Auction highlights include a large, museum-quality KPM collection, many notable bronze sculptures, some fine examples of marble statuary, large-scale, highly collectible cloisonné pieces, fine oil paintings, many of them religious in theme and well-known, and a rare, massive carved jade screen. Online bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com.
French furniture will feature a Louis XVI bedroom suite after the design of Jean-Henri Riesener (French, 1734-1806), comprising a bed, armoire and stands, having ormolu bronze mounts by Jean Rabiant and fruitwood marquetry and mahogany parquetry (estimate: $50,000-$90,000); and a top-quality circa 1870 Louis XVI gilt bronze mounted floral marquetry center table by Charles-Guillaume Diehl (French, 1811-1885), with dore bronze trim and accents (estimate: $8,000-$12,000).
A monumental pair of rare and museum-quality palace tables from around 1890, made from polished nickel and steel with rouge marble tops, from a design by Charles Paxton Gremillion of the renowned Dallas firm Loyd-Paxton, 6 feet long, has an estimate of $25,000-$50,000, while a scarce, circa 1900 Maison Millet tea or dessert table with yellow and cream marble top, signed Rogie, in excellent condition and standing on cabriole legs, should command $8,000-$14,000.
A rare pair of circa 1890 Royal Vienna urns, monumental in size at 57 inches tall each (on stands), with each capped urn surmounted by a large antlered gargoyle handles enriched with stylized gold decoration on a burgundy field, is estimated at $35,000-$45,000. Also, a large American gilt bronze and white marble centerpiece by Edward F. Caldwell & Co. (N.Y.), circa 1905, with the large marble bowl held by two Greco-Roman figures, should hit $15,000-$30,000.
To learn more about J. Garrett Auctioneers and this auction, visit www.jgarrettauctioneers.com.
