Perhaps the finest collection of maritime art ever assembled – including more than 100 unique and intriguing scale ship models – will cross the auction block on Oct. 27 at the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD, as part of Heritage Auctions Maritime & Ship Models Signature® Auction.

An invitation only reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 26, the night before the auction, at the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and a public preview will be held for two days, or by appointment.

More than 300 lots will be offered in the auction, with estimates on the paintings ranging from $2,000 to $150,000 while most of the ship models carry estimates of $5,000 and below. The top offering in the paints section of the event is Stephen J. Renard’s 'West Wind', 'Britannia', 'White Heather', 'Shamrock' and 'Lulworth' in the Solent, 1927 (estimate: $50,000+), one of three Renards to be offered. Other highlights from the paintings portion of the sale include works by Montague Dawson, James Bard, Antonio Jacobsen and Duncan McFarlane.

Ship models range from vintage sailor’s work to a fine assortment of classic sailing vessels in small and large scale, and includes such virtuosities as  an impressive large scale model of The USS ‘Franklin’ by master modeler Stephen W. Henninger (estimate: $5,000+), complete with a full complement of model aircraft.

“The collection was assembled by the MBNA Corporation, at one time the largest independent credit card issuer in the world,” said Nick Dawes, Vice President of Special Collections at Heritage. “It runs the gamut from early 19th century to modern day paintings and models, representing maritime trade, exploration, warfare and recreation from the discovery of America to the Americas Cup.”

MBNA’s strong presence in Maine, made Maine regional art a natural focus for the collection, which was personally assembled by the company's principals.  

“More broadly, however, the collection is a comprehensive look at the best maritime art has to offer,” said Dawes. “Maine, its proximity to the ocean and the impact of the sea on the culture of the area is intimately intertwined in this collection. The appeal of the grouping goes far beyond that, however, transcending regionalism and offering a wide variety of material to aficionados of maritime art all over the world.”

Each of the ship models is being sold without reserve –The MBNA collection includes works by some of the most important American craftsmen who have, or are, working in the genre: William Hitchcock, Fred Huffman, Robert H. Mouat, Greg McKay, Richard Glanville and Stephen W. Henninger.

Heritage Auctions will be present at the Annapolis Boat Show, Oct. 5-8, where catalogues and details will be available.

Heritage Auctions is far and away the largest auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $800 million, and 750,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com