Hog Island curlew,
$39,600.
EASTON, MD. - The auction firm of Guyette and Schmidt, Inc., of
West Farmington, Me., conducted its annual fall decoy auction
November 8 to 9 at Talbot County Community Center, immediately
preceding Easton Waterfowl Festival. The two-day gross was
$1,203,000, with 17 items selling for over $10,000.
Ward Brothers pintail drake, $29,250.
The top price was fetched by a circa 1880 curlew from Hog Island,
Va., which brought $39,600. It was from the collection of Charles
"Bus" Humphries. Prices were high through the sale, with many new
buyers in evidence.
Also drawing top prices were a pintail drake by Ward Brothers,
which sold for $29,250; a pair of bluebills, also Ward Brothers,
which reached $28,600; an early pintail hen by John English of
Florence, N.J., which sold for $29,250; and a rare swan by Jim
Cockey which reached $29,000.
Additionally, a merganser hen by Elmer Crowell sold at $17,000;
two rare mergansers by O.S. Bibber of Maine were sold separately,
bringing $16,000 and $11,500; a bluebill by Ferdinand Bach was
the top Midwestern decoy at $12,100; and a black duck by John
English finished at $19,800.
The next Guyette & Schmidt auction will be in conjunction
with the National Antique Decoy Show, April 26-27, in St Charles,
Ill.
