‘Lost Mackey Decoys’ Establish Record Prices

Easton, Md.

:The "lost Mackey decoys," a selection of top-shelf decoys and shorebirds that were cherry-picked from the Mackey collection by a relative prior to the collection being sold by Richard Bourne more than three decades ago, created quite a stir and established record prices during Guyette and Schmidt's November 8 and 9 auction.

Leading the pack was one of the "dust jacket" birds, decoys that had been pictured on the slip cover of Mackey's book American Bird Decoys , as a rare black bellied plover by Elmer Crowell sold after a bidding war erupted for $830,000. While the Mackey collection duck decoys fetched substantial prices, it was the shorebirds that had collectors salivating and continually topping the sales list.

A Thomas Gelston turned-head Hudsonian curlew was hammered down at $450,500 and a Nathan Cobb curlew brought $390,000. A complete review will appear in a future issue. —DSS