The living estate of James Commander will be sold on Saturday, June 11, in Panama City, Fla.

May 11, 2011 - PRLog -- (PANAMA CITY, Fla.) – The living estate of James Commander, a collector of vintage primitives and period American Victorian furniture, will be sold on Saturday, June 11, at 9 a.m. (CDT), by The Specialists of the South, Inc., based in Panama City. It will be an on-site and Internet auction, to be held at the Commander residence, located at 443 North Star Avenue, in Panama City, Fla.

   Hundreds of lots of quality primitives and furniture items will cross the block. Many tools owned by Mr. Commander will also be sold. At press time, additional items from a  separate residence owned by Mr. Commander were being inventoried and these will also be included in the auction.  

   Previews will be held by appointment the week leading up to the sale and on auction day, from 8-9 a.m. (CDT). Online bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com. Phone and absentee bids will be accepted for bidders unable to attend.

   “It was actually my late wife who got us started collecting primitives,” Mr. Commander said. “She was from a small town in Tennessee and was surrounded by such items from a very early age. After she passed away, I kept the collection going. My current wife, Irene, has taken an active interest in the items. But we’re downsizing now, so I feel the time is right to sell them.”

   There’s a nice collection of vintage wooden rolling pins (no reproductions) with different colored handles, Tom’s Peanut jars, can openers in various colors, red-handled ice picks, old clothing irons (including a blue example with a small tank on the back for heating water), an old wooden ironing board, and a large collection of blue and white splatter ware (pie plates, mixing bowls and coffee pots).

   Also offered will be a fantastic copper rooster weather vane made circa 1920, a nice gingerbread mantle clock, a blue and white wash bowl with pitcher, a butter churn crock with painted blue decoration and two table-top butter churns with paddles, silver pieces (to include a complete flatware service), shadow boxes, beaded purses, crocheted neck collars, vintage ladies’ leather boots, and baby shoes.

   The period furniture is easier to catalog and includes an immaculate oak ice box, circa early 1900s, with galvanized lining; a white Hoosier cabinet with red trim from the 1930s or ‘40s with a mirror, flour bin and sifter; a round oak pedestal dining room table with large scrolling feet; an oak side table with spool turned legs; and an interesting tiger oak side-by-side bookcase (bowed glass) and fall front desk with cubby holes (over serpentine drawers).

   There’s also a square oak table with decorative scrolling feet and large turned legs and five wide half-back chairs with pierced hand-holds and applied decoration; an antique tiger oak hall tree; a large solid oak roll-top desk (circa 1930s); an antique dining room suite, probably 1920s-1930s, with hidden fold-out leaf,  trestle base and large Jacobean-style legs, plus six chairs with linen fold decorations on the backs and large turned front legs.
   
   The previously described dining suite also has a matching buffet (73 inches wide by 22 inches deep) with one deep drawer flanked on either side by a door, all with linen fold decoration. Also to be sold is an antique love seat/settee with beautiful carving raised on casters; and a vintage oak commode washstand with curving towel rack.

   The Comanders’ residence, where the sale is being held, is also for sale, but not at this auction. It is a gorgeous property, consisting of a three bedroom/three bath main house with a large screened porch, a huge workshop, a one-car and a three-car garage, and a 14-space mobile home park, all situated on a beautiful lot with approximately five acres of land.

   Some of the tools in Mr. Commander’s workshop will also be auctioned. These will include a Skil saw, a band saw, a table saw, work benches with bins, assorted hand tools in tool boxes, an air compressor, an acetylene torch, assorted wrenches, and some antique tools, to include a railroad depot cart, old hatchets, a vintage upright safe-within-a-safe, old steel wagon wheels, an antique flywheel gas engine (“hit and miss,” circa early 1900s), and Hames horse harness collar pieces.

   “Anyone interested in quality primitives, period furniture, tools and decorative items should plan to attend this sale,” said Logan Adams of The Specialists of the South, Inc. “To try and capture it all in one story really doesn’t do the estate justice. I would strongly recommend that interested parties go to one or more of the previews then arrive ready to buy on auction day.” Bidders will be able to view images of most lots by May 23 at www.SpecialistsoftheSouth.com.

   The Specialists of the South, Inc. has been serving the Panama City community for over 30 years. The firm specializes in a broad range of services, to include estate auctions, furniture refurbishing, interior decoration, personal property appraisals and business liquidation services. It has been awarded the Small Business of the Month by the Bay County Chamber of Commerce.

   The Specialists of the South, Inc. is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them at (850) 785-2577, or you may e-mail them at specialists@knology.net. To learn more, or to register for the June 11 auction, you may log on to either www.SpecialistsoftheSouth.com or www.PanamaCityAuctions.com.

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Ken Hall writes pre-sale and post-sale press releases for auction houses, for a fee. He writes, submits and tracks stories for clients. Submissions are published in trade magazines, posted on industry websites and appear in local newspapers.