Capitol auction draws bidders worldwide; Morrissey buys Wilder desk

[Blue_Tires]

Del. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, is the proud new owner of a mahogany desk used by then-Lt. Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a $2,185 purchase that took place Wednesday during a spirited auction of castoff furnishings and lighting from Virginia's Capitol.

A standing-room-only crowd bid on 200 Capitol items that were part of an 800-lot auction conducted Wednesday and yesterday at Motley's Auction & Realty Group on West Broad Street.

Bids, which could be submitted online, by phone or by absentee ballot, came in from across the country as well as Russia, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Australia, China and Canada. Proceeds from the event's first day topped $50,000, said Darrell Olgers, vice president of Motley's antiques and estates division.

Olgers said 45 items were sold Wednesday night with nearly 150 left to sell in the Internet-only auction that ran until 7:30 last night.

A bidder who drove from Kentucky after seeing advertisements in several national publications was victorious in bidding on two chandeliers that once hung in the governor's conference room. The winning price was $2,530 each.

The Virginia Capitol Foundation, which selected the auction items from a stored cache no longer needed when the Capitol was renovated in 2007, will put the revenue into acquisitions and educational programs. Olgers said members of the foundation's board were "more than pleased with the result of the auction thus far."

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/article/AUCT26_20100225-223203/326969/