:The preening pintail drake and the "snakey-neck" nesting Canada goose, two exceptional decoys carved by Elmer Crowell for one of his most discerning patrons, brought solid prices when auctioned on Wednesday, July 15.
Sold at Copley Fine Art Auctions' two-day sale, the two birds came from a group of seven exceptional Crowell decoys and shorebirds consigned from the collection of Harry V. Long, a turn-of-the-century bird-watcher, hunter and philanthropist.
The virtually unknown collection had descended through his family. The pintail, circa 1900–10, was the first of the decoys from the collection to cross the block with it selling to a buyer in the room at $546,250.
The goose, circa 1900–12, was offered a few lots later with it selling to the telephone at $661,250. Only one of the shorebirds from the collection failed to find a buyer with the total for the remaining six birds coming at an impressive $1,817,000.
A complete review of the auction will appear in a future issue. For more information,
www.copleyart.com
or 617-536-0030.
