Decoy Prices Fly High At Guyette & Schmidt

CAMBRIDGE, MD.

:Guyette and Schmidt, Inc, conducted its annual fall decoy auction in conjunction with the Easton Waterfowl Festival on November 9-10. The sale was held at the Governor's Hall at Sailwinds Park and drew a crowd of more than 400. The auction grossed $2 million with 3 lots selling for over $10,000 and one lot selling for more than $100,000. As was the case in the Guyette and Schmidt's April and July auctions, prices were very strong. Top lot in the sale was a Nineteenth Century yellowlegs decoy by Fred Nichols of Lynn, Mass., which sold for $181,000. The auction gross was over estimate with particularly high prices for decoys by Elmer Crowell, the Mason Decoy Factory and the Ward Brothers.

A mallard drake by "Hucks" Caines, Georgetown, S.C., sold for three times its presale estimate going out at $40,250. Two 1936 canvasback drake decoys by the Ward Brothers also sold above estimate; the high head model sold for $39,100 and the regular pose canvasback, $35,650. A rare premier grade widgeon drake by the Mason Decoy Factory sold for $63,250. A pintail drake circa 1930 by Cambridge carver Ed Phillips sold for $12,075 and an immature swan by Cambridge carver John Vickers brought $6,900. Both were world auction record prices for the carvers.

Frank Schmidt and Gary Guyette assembled more than 850 decoys and related items from collections and directly out of houses throughout the United States and Canada. The result was a well-balanced grouping of decoys with something for every buyer's taste. The sale featured the collection of Phillip Williamson of Cambridge, Md.

All prices quoted include the buyer's premium charged.

Guyette and Schmidt, Inc, established in 1984, is the world's largest decoy auction firm. It holds three auctions per year and provides free decoy appraisals to anyone sending a decoy photo and stamped, self-addressed envelope to Guyette and Schmidt, Inc, PO Box 1170, St Michaels MD 21663, 410-745-0485, fax 410-745-0487 or www.guyetteandschmidt.com. For Frank Schmidt, call 207-625-8055, fax 207-625-4742. Guyette and Schmidt, Inc's, next auction will be April 27-28 in conjunction with the National Antique Decoy Show in St Charles, Ill.