It takes a little game of smoke and mirrors to trick an animal onto your dinner plate, but we’ve gotten rather good at it over the course of time. So good, in fact, that the smoke worked itself into an art form. Fine decoys grace our short list from some of the finest makers and carvers that the world has ever seen. They join art and other objects that set the scene for our next fishing or hunting trip in this week’s picks.
GUYETTE & DEETER
Sale Date: July 26, 2017
Lot 349
Extremely Rare Yellowlegs With Both Wings Up In Landing Pose, Elmer Crowell (1862–1951)
East Harwich, Mass. Crowell’s oval brand is under the base. Highly detailed feather paint and good patina. Carved tail feathers.
Estimate: $30/35,000
COPLEY
Sale Date: July 27–28, 2017
Lot 50
Canvas-Covered Long-Tailed Duck, Lothrop Turner Holmes (1824–1899)
Kingston, Mass., circa 1855, 13 inches long. The body is constructed with canvas, fastened by copper tacks stretched over bent wooden slats. Inscribed on the bottom board “Lothrop Holmes Kingston, Mass.” A rigmate was depicted on the 1980 Massachusetts Waterfowl Stamp and print. This is an excellent example from the most celebrated rig of canvas decoys. Original paint with gunning wear and working touch-up to tail chip.
Estimate: $30/50,000
ELDRED’S
Sale Date: August 2, 2017
Lot 101
A. Elmer Crowell Greater Yellowlegs In Hanging Position
East Harwich, Mass., circa 1925, painted tack eyes; length 17 inches.
Estimate: $10/12,000
CASE ANTIQUES
Sale Date: August 5, 2017
Lot 451
John J. Audubon, Trumpeter Swan
Havell Edition aquatint etching, Trumpeter Swan (Young) — Cygnus Buccinator, plate CCCLXXVI. Printed lower right margin: “Engraved, Printed and Coloured by R. Havell 1837.” Published 1838. Titled center margin and printed lower left margin: “Drawn from Nature by J.J. Audubon. F.R.S. F.L.S.” Watermarked J. Whatman 1838. Intaglio and watercolor on paper; sheet 26-5/8 by 40 inches.
Estimate: $8/12,000
FAIRFIELD AUCTION
Sale Date: July 26, 2017
Lot 194
Redware Fish Mold
19 1/4 inches long, Nineteenth Century
Estimate: $3/500
HERITAGE
Sale Date: July 29–30, 2017
Lot 86580
Ashtead And Epping Forests (General, 1921)
Two travel posters, 20½ by 28½ inches. Walter E. Spradbery artwork. Well known for his incredible landscapes, British artist Spradbery created dozens of travel posters advertising all the beauty England had to offer, especially its idyllic countryside. These are early Twentieth Century illustrations of the Epping and Ashtead Forests.
Estimate: $600–$1,200
SOULIS AUCTIONS
Sale Date: July 30, 2017
Lot 40
Original Illustration Oil Signed Ted Keller
Circa 1960, signed lower left. Sight, 28 by 21¼ inches.
Estimate: $400/500
COEUR D’ALENE ART AUCTION
Sale Date: July 29, 2017
Lot 57
Edmund H. Osthaus (1858–1928)
“Setters on Point,” oil on canvas, 24 by 36 inches, signed lower right.
Estimate: $30/50,000
JENACK
Sale Date: July 30, 2017
Lot 265
Dutch School (Twentieth Century) Painting
Oil on canvas, “Le Chasseur,” after Adrian Cornelisz Beeldmaker (Dutch, 1618–1709), stamped verso, 17 by 20½ inches.
Estimate: $200/300
