NEW YORK, NY.- The Important Maritime Paintings & Decorative Arts auction on January 28 will present a selection of 139 pieces that range from exquisite paintings of stormy seas to chronometers to Prisoner-Of-War ship models. Leading the sale are works by a strong group of British masters that come from an important American private collection of British Maritime art.

Notable highlights from this collection includes:

· Montague Dawson’s Up Channel - The Red Jacket, a beautiful oil painting of a lone ship navigating through choppy waves and expected to fetch between $40,000 and $60,000. The ship featured is one of the fastest and largest clipper ships ever built.

· Nicholas Pocock’s beautiful oil The battle between the British and French frigates, estimated at $20,000 – 30,000.

· Kearsarge, June 19th 1864by Fred Pansing (EST. $20,000 – 30,000), depicting an important scene from the American Civil War, the battle between the C.S.S. Alabama and the U.S.S. Kearsarge off the coast of France.

· Collecting Clams - a British Man O'War departing (est. $7,000 – 10,000), and A ship of the line of the White fleet departing (est. $ 12,000 – 18,000), two oils by John Ward, a prominent British luminist painter.

· A spectacular watercolor, The battle between the H.M.S. Shannon and the U.S.S. Chesapeake (est. $4,000 – 6,000), by Derek George Montague Gardner who is well represented in this sale. His The H.M.S. Superb, carries the same estimate. .

Other top lots includes:

· A number of works by James Edward Buttersworth: Cornelia and Magic a majestic oil on canvas is estimated to realize between $300,000 and $400,000 and is the auction’s star lot; The New York packet Enterprise entering the Thames, an oil on board estimated at $100,000 – 150,000; and A three-decker of the White Fleet off Belem Castle(est. $25,000 – 35,000).

· A striking oil by Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen,The Pilot Schooner, Phantom(est. $12,000 – 18,000).

· The whaler Dauphin out of Nantucketby Frank Vining Smith (est. $8,000 – 12,000). This brilliant oil depicts the Dauphin, the vessel which recovered a number of the survivors from the whale ship Essex, after it had been sunk by a large sperm whale. The story of the Essex is the basis for Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

· Ships at an anchorage, a pen and wash on wove paper work by one of the leading masters of maritime painting from the late 17th century, Willem van de Velde the Elder (est. $3,000 – 4,000).

Highlights from the Decorative Arts section includes:

· A tri-power binocular telescope designed by Ernst Leitz Wetzlar, circa 1915, (est. $20,000 – 30,000). It is an early example of a binocular telescope, and a rare example by Leitz.

· An 8-day ship's chronometer by J.A. Hatton, London, circa 1810 (est. $6,000 – 8,000).

· An American sterling silver gilt covered two-handled footed yachting trophy The King's Cup designed by Tiffany & Co., New York, circa 1909 (est. $6,000 – 8,000), a trophy for the New York Yacht Club that was awarded to the yacht Istalena, along with a photographic album.

· A builder's half model of the Santa Rosa & Colombia, circa 1872, (est. $4,000 – 6,000).

The auction will take place at 1 pm.