The Sporting Sale 2026
Copley’s Sporting Sale 2026 broke numerous records, realized $4.7 million, and was 94% sold by lot. For a full list of the prices realized, click here.
$480,000
The Crowell du Mont Bobwhite Quail Pair
Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC, one of the nation’s premier auction houses known for its accurate descriptions, verified results, and world-record prices, realized over $4.7 million in their recent Sporting Sale. This sale followed on the heels of the firm's record-setting Winter Sale, which totaled $5.9 million. The July 9-10 live-streamed auction saw continuing market momentum with an unprecedented number of bidders spread across American paintings, decoys, sporting paintings, prints, fishing collectables, bronzes, gameboards, and folk art. New buyers, established collectors, and institutions were fully engaged over the two-day event. The auction once again shattered multiple world records and achieved many notable sales. Extending Copley’s track record, the 631-lot auction was 94% sold by lot and landed above its high estimate.
Commenting on the landmark sale after the auction, Copley owner Stephen O’Brien Jr. states, “It was extremely rewarding to see the Crowell market continue to all-time highs. As the ‘Father of American Bird Carving,’ the Harwich master craftsman was responsible for creating a huge part of the decoy market we participate in. When you crunch the number of Crowell’s in the top one hundred his lead is staggering. One of my friends and a top Crowell collectors refers to this important maker as the Frederic Remington of decoy carvers, and he is spot on with that observation. Three of Crowell’s works have now topped the million-dollar mark, and this number will only rise. The fun part, if you really think about it, is that the vast majority of Americans have no idea who Elmer Crowell is.”
$84,000
An Unexpected Chance by A. B. Frost
Regarding the painting side of the market, O’Brien continues, “As the leaders of the sporting art field, it is always rewarding to see our A. B. Frosts, Frank Bensons, Aiden Lassell Ripleys, and Ogden Pleissners find new homes as they all did in this auction, but seeing the American Impressionist works by Edmund Tarbell, Joseph DeCamp, Emile Gruppe, Eric Sloane, and Gerrit Beneker all take off and all sell over their high estimates was great to see!"
The top painting lot of the sale, an oil depicting a fox and hounds by influential Swedish painter Bruno Andreas Liljefors, set a new American record at auction for the artist when it sold for $120,000. A small but detailed watercolor of deer hunting by A. B. Frost, titled An Unexpected Chance, shot to $84,000. Copley has now sold the top three paintings by this celebrated American illustrator. The top piece in the auction by Ogden Pleissner was Out Fishing, a dramatic watercolor depicting Atlantic salmon fishing, which rose to $45,000.
$216,000
Elmer Crowell Woodcock
In this sale, the du Mont Bobwhite Quail Pair reached the auction's high-water mark of $480,000. This result set a new record price for upland carvings by the maker. The very next lot, an outstanding woodcock from the same collection, alighted to $216,000, with both game birds finding spirited bidding and full phone banks. Other birds by Crowell performed well with the Nye Preening Goldeneye paddling to $120,000, while the Sherer Rig Merganser Pair swam to $102,000. The Sherer Rig Golden Plover reached $32,400, and the black-bellied plover from the same rig achieved $25,200.
Other top decoy makers’ works were also in demand; the Humbracht Schoenheider Goose achieved $240,000, the top price ever for one of the maker’s geese. The McCleery Holmes Plover was bid to $174,000, realizing the maker’s second-highest shorebird price ever. O’Brien notes, “As the underbidder for the McCleery ruddy turnstone back in 2000, I have always been taken with Holmes' painterly style and precise carving. I was able to secure this plover for a client in that sale, and have always loved it. Holmes carved about a five-iron away from where I live today, so he has always been a bit of a hometown hero for me.”