Eclectic Hillyard museum collection to be auctioned

Owens Auction will auction off the entire collection from Carr’s One of a Kind in the World Museum on Saturday.

On the auction block will be many wild game trophies – including the mounted front half of a giraffe and a full-size pouncing lion – Asian porcelain, chess sets, a Harold Balazs totem pole and a talking Hannibal Lecter figure. Not to mention a 1968 Lincoln Limousine that belonged to Jackie Gleason, a 1973 Lincoln Mark IV owned by Elvis Presley and a 500-specimen butterfly collection.

“We will sell everything,” said Jeff Owens, who owns Owens Auction. “There are more than 1,000 items there, easily. We are not done with the inventory yet.”

The museum was owned by Marvin Carr, who died Nov. 22 at the age of 86, leaving behind his wife, Marjorie Smith-Carr. Carr told The Spokesman-Review in 2011 that he always wanted a museum and purchased the building on North Freya in the 1990s to house his collectible cars. Then he slowly filled it with collectibles he loved, and for a modest admission opened the collection to anyone interested in seeing it.

“Marvin has been part of the auction family for more than 20 years,” Owens said. “He would attend all the auctions at the gallery. Sometimes purchased very specific items; sometimes he purchased something just because he liked it.”

Among the many unusual items for sale is a tall wooden sculpture carved in Tanzania from one piece of wood, showing a royal family.

“But there are also two samurai outfits, a seashell collection and military items,” Owens said.

Carr especially liked Asian art – wood and ivory carvings, and silk prints – because of the craftsmanship and the attention to detail in each piece.

Also in the collection: mounted squirrels staged in various interesting scenarios including an old-fashioned Wild West shootout. And a surveillance camera from the Hanford nuclear site. And a vintage palm reader arcade game.

On Saturday it will all change hands.

“We are selling everything,” Owens said, “including the disco ball.”