George Morris (Diana DeRosa photo)

(USA) - 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, New Jersey, at the auction house of Dawson and Nye.

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, Florida home. He will continue to coach the United States Equestrian Team during their international competitions.

Mr. Morris is one of the founding fathers of Hunt Seat Equitation in America. He began riding as a child and distinguished himself at a very young age, winning the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Finals and the AHSA Hunt Seat Equitation Medal Final at Madison Square Garden in 1952. Countless horsemen trained at Hunterdon and have continued on to achieve success in the equestrian world under Morris' tutelage.

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

The sale, which has an American and English theme, includes such furniture as: a fine William and Mary oak gatelege 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 objets d'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," reported Nye, "is a huge opportunity for everyone interested in horses and riding. 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."

The auction will be held at:

Dawson and Nye, Auctioneers and Appraisers
128 American Road
Morris Plains, NJ 07950

For more information on the George Morris Auction, please contact Dawson and Nye at
www.dawsonandnye.com or call (973) 984-6900.