Chris O'Dea's home is littered with paintings, books, silverware - just some of the 325 items he'll auction off Thursday. The most notable items for sale are two paintings by Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer. A 1952 oil painting of a scene in Port de Grave hangs over a mantelpiece in O'Dea's home-based business in St. John's. O'Dea figures it will sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

The second Lismer painting is an earlier-version painting of the same area. "It'll be the best sale I've had," he said. "This is just going to be an outstanding auction and it's going to draw a good crowd." "I have had interest expressed from mainland Canada and I've had one inquiry from Europe." There are reserves on 12 items - meaning a minimum price has been set and they won't be sold for less. "The reason for the reserve is really to protect the interests of the estate," said O'Dea. "I have a responsibility to the estate to ensure that they get a reasonable return." In this case, the reserves are applied mostly to art, including the 1952 Lismer and a sterling silver bowl, known as a monteith, that was made in England in 1893.

O'Dea auctions about 100 items per hour. That doesn't leave much time for undecided buyers to make up their minds.
They'll get a chance to view everything all day Thursday at the Star of the Sea Hall in St. John's until the auction begins at 7 p.m.
During the auction, O'Dea's wife, Margaret, manages the floor along with the seven people hired for the event. O'Dea doesn't use cue cards when describing auction items. He goes by memory, relying on knowledge developed over the years, and research.
"It's something I'm personally interested in. If I had cards, I wouldn't do my 100 items an hour - it'd slow me down. "I do lots of research and probably present more information than I need to present, but the public coming to my auction enjoy it because they learn, as well." It's not the biggest auction he has organized, but O'Dea expects it to generate more interest than others because of the wide variety of items. Among them: a handmade Grenfell mat depicting a dogsled team; antique clocks; mahogany chairs with satinwood inlay known as marquetry; three dining room sets; a large selection of 19th-century Newfoundland prints; mahogany Victorian slipper chairs; Staffordshire pottery; a Rosewood living room set; Toby jugs; and five fur coats - two of them vintage and made locally from sealskin.

O'Dea got into the auction business in late 2001 and quickly expanded into real estate. He had previously worked with Aliant, NewTech Instruments and Nortel Networks and the provincial government. "When I was dealing with a number of estates, after I was finished with the contents they used to say, 'Well, why don't you sell my house for me, too.' And I had to say, 'I'm sorry, I'm not licensed to do that.' "The perfect opportunity to study for real estate licence came when he broke a rib. "I had to sit tight for three weeks."

O'Dea holds two or three auctions a year, with each one taking a few months to prepare. "I'm somewhat selective in what I take."
Other items at next week's auction include: * An art book on Christopher Pratt by David Silcox of Sotheby's Canada. It includes a serigraph titled Labrador Sea and is one of 279 signed editions.* A 1719 cartouche of a fishing room that O'Dea says was originally
incorporated into a map of Newfoundland by Herman Moll. The detailed drawing labels and describes each piece of the fishing room. * A book commemorating the Atlantic cable stretching from Bull Arm, Trinity Bay, to Valentia, Ireland, by W.H. Russell and illustrated by Robert Dudley whose engravings depict the cable house and other scenes. * An 1830 book entitled Mundy's Life of Rodney about George Brydges Rodney, governor of Newfoundland for a fishing season in 1749. * An 1847 edition of A Digest of the Laws of Newfoundland by Edward M. Archibald that once belonged to Robert Kent, speaker of the House of Assembly in 1883.
*A 1725 cookbook, Le Menage Universel, published in France.

The auction was held at the Star Hall on June 23, 2005. Some of the results are illustrated as follows:

	Albert Clouthier, Brig Hr., Labrador, RCA, 1947, 21 by 26 $700
	Alfonso Toft, ROI, The Paper Mill Grand Falls, NL $700
	Bernard Vanier, Movement Terrestre, 1963, approx 24 by 24 $100
	David Blackwood 1994, Haven, 20 by 32 $2700
	Newfoundland print from Theodor deBry's book from 1627 or 1640 $825
	F.H. McGillivary $300
	Fisherman's Houses Francois NL, George Pepper, 1952, 11 by 1 $300
	G. Pepper, RCA, Mending nets, 1952, 16 by 24 $1400
	Herman Moll 18th century view of Nfld fishing room Trinity $700
	Hilton Hassell RCA Bareneed, NL, 1979, 12 by 18 $1700
	Ice Blink Frank Keating 1965, 14 by 20 $350
	Kathleen Daly RCA, Fishing Boats, Portugal Cove, NL, 1950's $2200
	Kathleen Daly, RCA, Darrell's Hole, NL, 1950's, 20 by 16 $2400
	Mariette Lydis Manola $100
	Mariette Lydis, Petite Danseuse $200
	Molly Lamb Bobak 1984, Seaport St. John's, NL 11.5 by 15.5 $1900
	One of a series of 19th century Nfld. prints $325
	Print of Harbour Grace Tragedy 1888 $250
	Rev Wm. Grey original drawing of St. John's 1853 $3200
	Vict Lady $300
	Wilf Barnes, RCA, Icebergs off NL, 1930, 9.6 by 13.3 $1000
	Labrador Sea silk screen from Quintus Press volume on Ch (1)
	Signature card from Quintus Press volume on Christopher Prat
	Spine of Quintus Press volume on Christopher Pratt $1600
	Oil painting by W.G. Gosling $100
	Group of Seven artist Authur Lismer’s oil painting of Darrell’s Cove, Port de Grave $36000
	Blackwood's Grenfell Rescued 1977 $2500
	Close up dogs
	Close up of Komatik
	Close up of label
	Grenfell mat $2500
	Rear of mat
	Bedroom set $425
	Bedroom set $900
	Boyles Furniture Co. rosewood living room furniture $2000
	Corner desk and silver inkwell $775, $100
	Victorian tall chest of drawers $1200
	Chest of drawers $225
	19 century enameled plant stand $1000
	Grandfather clock $700
	Ansonia brass and enamel mantel clock c.1890 $250
	Legal stacking bookcase $450
	One of a pair of single beds $100
	Victoriana card table $550
	Mahohany dining room table c.1850 $1500
	View 2 Mahogany table
	View 3 Mahogany table
	Dining Room Set and Carpet $1750, $325
	Dressing table $400
	Base of Vict. marquetry top table $1500
	Edwardian nest of tables $325
	Hespler dining room table and chairs $1200
	Marquetry top of Victorian parlour table
	Wing back sofa $275
	Victorian sofa $300
	Hall hat and cane stand $600
	Mahogany China Cabinet $900
	Hespler China Cabinet $550
	Mahogany inlaid curio cabinet $325
	Victorian chaise longue $900
	One of a set of 4 balloon back chairs $825
	Mahogany Vict. slipper chair c. 1850 $190
	Leather upholstered chair with chippendale legs $1250
	One of a set of 8 mahogany dining room chairs $350
	Victorian arm chair $250
	Early Victorian slipper chair c.1850 $450
	Victorian armchair $225
	Mahogany inlaid shieldback armchair $200
	Mahogany inlaid side chair $200
	Robust rocking chair c.1900 $400
	Rosewood inlaid corner chair with stretcher base $400
	Binding from Le Menage Universal 1725
	Le Menage Universal 1725 $100
	Cover of W.H. Russell book Atlantic Telegraph 1866 $1500
	Exterior of Trinity Bay cable station from The Atlantic Tele
	Life and correspondence of Rodney in 2 vol, 1830 $100
	Robert Kent's copy of the digest of the Laws of Newfoundland $400
	Sir Ralph Williams How I Became Governor and Lady Glover on $125
	Volume 1 and 11 of Newfoundland Pilot $100
	Wooden Walls Among the Ice Flows $300
	Boat in Bottle $200
	Collection of crystal decanters $175-$475 ea
	Pendant glass vase $100
	Collection of NL medals $225
	Silver inkwell $100
	Silver meat cover $225
	Staffordshire 1 $300
	Staffordshire 2 $175
	Staffordshire 3 $175
	Staffordshire 4 $100 - $125
	Sterling silver monteith 1895 $1500
	China cups and saucers, etc
	Coal bucket $120