One of the biggest collections of early Bermuda furniture will be offered for public sale on Saturday.

Auctioneers are calling it a "once in a lifetime opportunity'' to buy early Bermudian and English antiques.

The estate auction's highlight is expected to be a rare 1740s Queen Anne Bermuda cedar highboy, which could fetch up to $50,000.

It's a very unusual piece that doesn't come on the market very often,'' Somers Realty auctioneer Ms Judiann Smith said. The last one offered for public sale was several years ago.

Almost the entire contents of "Ardsheal'', an old Bermuda home atop Paget's Rural Hill, are to be auctioned off on Saturday.

The extensive 400-item collection features numerous other pieces of old Bermuda cedar and mahogany furniture, including three gate leg tables, a gilt mantle mirror, Queen Anne cedar chests, a mahogany table which seats 14 and a nine-foot Chickering grand piano.

Antique buffs will find everything from crystal hurricane lamps to brass bed warmers on the 11-page list of items.

There is also an extensive array of china, silver and crystal.

There's even an RCA colour TV on offer! And for art lovers, a large selection of Bessie Gray watercolours and oils by Clark Vorhees.

"It's one of the most extensive collections of antique furniture that I have ever sold,'' Ms Smith said.

The furnishings, and the home's panoramic views of both Hamilton Harbour and the south shore, were enjoyed up until last year by Mrs. Elton Wayland, who died at the age of 97.

Mrs. Wayland's American businessman father bought the house in 1908 as a holiday home.

It was previously owned by another American Mr. Alexander Stevens and before then, Scotsman Mr. Duncan Stuart, who named it "Ardsheal'' after his family estate.

The house has been sold to an English couple, and for the first time small children will occupy it, remarked Mrs. Wayland's American daughter Mrs.

Woodward Thomson.

Her mother made it her permanent home after her father died in 1972.

The vast furnishings were accumulated over the years, Mrs. Thomson said, adding that her parents enjoyed buying Bermuda furniture.

RARE OFFERING -- Somers realty auctioneer Ms Judiann Smith shows off the rare Queen Anne Bermuda cedar highboy expected to fetch thousands of dollars at the "Ardsheal'' estate auction on Saturday, which includes some 400 pieces of Bermudian and English antiques plus Bessie Gray watercolours and other paintings.