Morris Auctions Trophies, Household Effects

Equestrian legend George Morris will auction off trophies, paintings and other items from his New Jersey home as he prepares to move to Florida.

Nov. 17, 2005 — On January 11-12, 2006, Dawson and Nye Auctioneers and Appraisers will be auctioning off trophies, paintings, silver, pictures, rugs and other household effects from the house of equestrian legend and current U.S. Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe George Morris. The auction will be held in Morris Plains, N.J., at the auction house of Dawson and Nye.

George Morris | Photo by Diana DeRosa

John Nye, President and Principal Auctioneer of Dawson and Nye Auctioneers, will offer nearly 200 items from the collection of George Morris at their Morris Plains galleries. After nearly 35 years of residency, Morris is leaving his Hunterdon County farm and will now call Wellington, Fla., home. He will continue to coach the United States Equestrian Team during their international competitions.

Morris is one of the founding fathers of Hunt Seat Equitation in America. He began riding as a child and won the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Finals and the AHSA Hunt Seat Equitation Medal Final at Madison Square Garden in 1952 at the age of 14, the youngest rider to ever do so. Countless horsemen trained at Hunterdon and have continued on to achieve success in the equestrian world under Morris’ tutelage. Morris’ “Jumping Clinic” is a regular feature in Practical Horseman magazine.

The Morris collection will be offered in the catalog, online and at the auction as a single-owner sequence, meaning there will be a consecutive run of items belonging to Morris.

The sale, which has an American and English theme, includes such furniture as a fine William and Mary oak gateleg dining table, a Georgian high chest of drawers and a horse-decorated leather-upholstered demilune trunk. Welsh cupboards, chests of drawers and chairs, all of which were adorned by collectable decorative objects of art and whimsy, make up the collection as well.

There will be a selection of silver equestrian trophies and related fine art and prints. One special painting is an unsigned oil on canvas of a woodsman and his dog standing in the snow with a pipe in hand.

“The privilege of handling the collection of such a prominent equestrian is a huge opportunity for everyone interested in horses and riding,” said Nye. “Mr. Morris is such a luminary in the field; I can’t help but think how eager people will be to own something that he treasures.”

Nye has created a catalog of pictured items that will be auctioned off. The catalog is now available online at www.dawsonandnye.com.

The auction will be held at Dawson and Nye, Auctioneers and Appraisers, 128 American Road, Morris Plains, N.J. 07950.

For more information on the George Morris Auction, email Dawson and Nye at info@dawsonandnye.com or call 973-984-6900.

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