The first auction of items that belonged to Helen Delich Bentley, the former congresswoman from Maryland who died in August, will take place this week at Alex Cooper Auctioneers in Towson.
Bentley, who died Aug. 6 at age 92 from brain cancer, left behind thousands of art pieces and antiques. Her collection includes fine Chinese, Meissen and Russian porcelain, and Chinese palace vases — many of which will be auctioned off at 10 a.m. Thursday and Saturday at the Towson auction and antique house, according to vice president Paul Cooper. Online bidding has already begun.
Because of a public memorial scheduled for Friday to honor Bentley, who served five terms in Congress from 1985 to 1995, Cooper said none of her items will be auctioned that day. The memorial is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Fort McHenry.
Cooper said Bentley's pieces have already received numerous bids online.
"Helen Bentley was in the antique business along with her husband. She had an excellent eye for quality, and basically that's what reflected in her collection," said Cooper, who noted that all of her items together are likely worth "many hundreds of thousands" of dollars.
This week's auction is just the first of several planned for Bentley's belongings, Cooper said. The next set of auctions will take place on Dec. 8 and 10, and will likely continue with dates in January and February, he said.
Baltimore Sun reporters Michael Dresser, John-John Williams IV and Tim Prudente contributed to this article.
If you go
The live bidding starts at 10 a.m. Thursday and Saturday at Alex Cooper Auctioneers's auction gallery, 908 York Road, Towson. Interested parties can start the bidding online. antiques.alexcooper.com