In case of an appeal from an order or decree of a probate court granting letters testamentary, of administration, of administration with the will annexed or of guardianship, the executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed, or guardian, pending the appeal, upon leave of the probate court first obtained, may sell at public auction or private sale any tangible personal property of the testator, intestate, or ward, which are liable to perish or waste or to be greatly reduced in value by keeping, or which cannot be kept without great and disproportionate expense, and hold the proceeds of those sales, after deducting from the proceeds the necessary expenses of sale, for the benefit of the estate.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-23-4