The Winter Sale 2020
Copley’s Winter Sale, featuring 530 lots of the finest antique decoys and sporting art, totaled over $3.4 million, well over the high estimate, and achieved a 96% sell-through rate by lot.
The sale showcased four collections of bird carvings: The Dr. Peter J. Muller Jr. Collection of American Bird Decoys, Session II of The Dr. Morton D. Kramer Collection, Decoys from The William J. Butler Jr. Estate, and An Important Collection of Carvings by A. Elmer Crowell.
Session I of The Dr. Peter J. Muller Jr. Collection of American Bird Decoys brought over $1.5 million and was 100% sold, making it one of the only “white glove” sales in the field of decoy collecting. The session achieved an unprecedented average price per lot of over $35,800 and accounted for six of the sale’s top ten decoy lots.
Items from the Estate of Alfred F. King III, late owner of The Sportsman’s Edge in New York, were 100% sold by lot. This selection was led by Bob Kuhn’s acrylic, Tiger, which brought $37,200. For more details of this sale, click on the links below to access the press release and the prices realized.
The Mackey Birch Swan
Charles Birch (1867-1956)
Willis Wharf, VA, c. 1920
SOLD FOR $210,000
*world record for the maker
Thomas Blinks
(English, 1860-1912)
English Springer Spaniel with Pheasant
oil on canvas, 18 by 14 in.
SOLD FOR $72,000
Mackey Shourds Long-Tail
Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920)
Tuckerton, NJ, c. 1890
SOLD FOR $174,000
Ogden Pleissner
(1905-1983)
Western Pheasant Hunting
watercolor, 18 by 28 in.
SOLD FOR $48,000
Hooded Merganser Pair
Ira Hudson (1873-1949)
Chincoteague, VA, c. 1925
SOLD FOR $168,000
"Dust-Jacket" Yellowlegs
A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952)
East Harwich, MA, c. 1910
SOLD FOR $150,000