MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- An array of surgical and other instruments allegedly used in the 1977 embalming of Elvis Presley's body was withdrawn Thursday from a planned auction after Memphis Funeral Home objected to the auction of property taken without the funeral home's consent.

Funeral home president E.C. Daves said the instruments were taken by an embalmer who kept them for more than 30 years before offering them for sale through Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. The Presley items were in two lots valued by the auction house at $8,000 and $6,000.

Mr. Daves said the authenticity of the items still is in question. He said the retired embalmer, in his 80s, claimed to have taken the items after Presley's embalming the night of Aug. 16, 1977. But Mr. Daves said another employee told him that those instruments had been sterilized and were used again.

"There's no way to tell whether [the auction items] are authentic," he said.

Mr. Daves said the retired embalmer and his son, who handled negotiations with the auction house, agreed to withdraw the items. He said the funeral home plans no legal reprisals if the items are returned.

Auction-house owner Leslie Hindman was less final.

In an e-mail, she said, "We are in discussions with all parties."

Mr. Daves said the funeral home is awaiting word from the Presley estate on its preferences. The items could be donated to a funeral-history museum in Houston.

"Or we could destroy them," Mr. Daves said. "We're not going to do anything until the Presley estate agrees with it."

The auction has since been canceled.

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