A varied estate sale from Heritage Auctions is currently being led by a pair of female African elephant tusks, which will sell alongside art, furniture and decorative arts on September 12-13.

A rare opportunity for collectors to own a large pair of elephant tusks

The tusks measure 95 and 103 inches respectively and each have a bronze cap at the base and ring in the middle for mounting. Providing a rare opportunity for collectors to own such a large pair of tusks, after the trade in African elephant ivory was banned in 1990, they will sell with a $60,000-80,000 estimate, the highest in the sale. Online bidding stands at $30,000.

Elsewhere, the sale will feature two important collections. The first are a number of tribal artefacts from the estate of Carl Akely, the "father of modern taxidermy" who is best known from the Akely Hall of African Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History.

The top lot from Akely's amassment is an important Kikuyu wooden dance shield from Kenya, which was once housed in the Toledo Museum of Natural History. A fresh to the market item, which was collected by Akely on one of his many expeditions to Africa, it will sell for $15,000+.

The second major offering comes from Elton Hyder III, whose collection features more than 500 items that were once loaned to - and decorated - the Texas School of Law's library. Among the finest items from Hyder's collection is a fantastic reproduction of Gilbert Stuart's Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington, which is expected to bring $10,000-15,000.

Presidential collectors will want to view Paul Fraser Collectibles' extraordinary Washington autograph. We are also offering an authentic strand of the great man's hair - a superb memento from one of America's founding fathers.