Merganser Pair Takes Top Honors At Guyette And Schmidt Auction

ST CHARLES, ILL.

:Guyette and Schmidt, Inc recently conducted its 21st annual spring decoy auction. The auction at the Pheasant Run Resort, in conjunction with the National Antique Decoy and Collectibles Show, drew a crowd of more that 600 with an additional 220 absentee and phone bidders.

Top lot in the sale was a pair of mergansers, circa 1900, by Clinton Keith of Kingston, Mass. Keith was a friend of Lothrop Holmes (Kingston, Mass.) and carved decoys similar to his. The pair sold at midestimate $335,000. This was a world auction record for a Clinton Keith decoy. This pair of decoys was sold for $45,000 at the Richard Bourne Decoy Auction in 1986.

Other Massachusetts decoys sold at the auction were a pair of mergansers attributed to Luther Nickerson that sold for $17,250, an unknown pair of Massachusetts mergansers brought $19,000 and a goldeneye drake by Keyes Chadwick sold for $12,075. A hooded merganser by Elmer Crowell brought $25,875 and a wood duck by Crowell brought $31,725. A yellowlegs by Fred Nichols sold over estimate at $76,250.

Frank Schmidt and Gary Guyette assembled more than 750 decoys from collections and directly out of house all over the United States and Canada. The result was a well-balanced grouping of decoys with something for every buyer's tastes. The sale featured the collections of Alan and Elaine Haid, Jim Stewart and Ted Murphy and fish decoys from the collection of Annie Cooper.

Guyette and Schmidt, Inc's next decoy sale will be held on July 29-30 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. The auction will be held in conjunction with a 75-table decoy show.

For more information, www.guyetteandschmidt.com or 410-745-0485.