The Chipman family turned-head yellowlegs, circa 1860-1880, had received the unusual treatment of having been hollowed from the bottom to an “eggshell” thickness. From the Howes collection, it sold to Stephen O’Brien Jr for a record price paid at auction for a Chipman shorebird of $143,750.

The third and final in the series of waterfowl auctions to take place during the last week of July was Decoys Unlimited annual Summer Decoy and Americana sale. The auction, Monday and Tuesday, July 31 and August 1, was an unusual sale for the firm as instead of starting off in the normal fashion with an assortment of decoys, it began with 200 lots of Americana.

The selection of Americana had quite a few people excited when the first ads broke as the session featured the collection of well-known Brewster, Mass., dealer, the late Donald Howes. Advertisements had raised hopes of two serious Eighteenth Century Taunton paint decorated chests coming to the market, thought to have possibly been by Robert Crosman, although ultimately both pieces fell far short of expectations.

The decoys and shorebirds, however, many of which were also consigned from the Howes collection, attracted far more interest and drew substantial prices throughout the two-day auction.

Many of the decoys in the sale also came from the collection of the late Dr Harvey Pitt, an Illinois waterfowl enthusiast and collector of more than 40 years. The monies generated from the sale of the Pitt collection will be used to form a scholarship fund to help biology students.

A large crowd was on hand for the auction and the usual tailgate event in the surrounding rooms brought in lots of collectors and dealers, including many old-time Cape Cod collectors that rarely travel anymore.

The Thomas Wilson hollow carved black-bellied plover, circa 1880, from the Howes collection, sold after animated bidding to a lady identified as a private Texas collector at $120,750.

The stars of the first day came as two shorebirds from the Howes collection were offered. The first was a rare hollow carved black-bellied plover, circa 1880, that retained its original winter plumage paint. The decoy, attributed to Thomas Wilson of Ipswich, Mass., had been split horizontally by the carver, hollowed and rejoined. Prior to piecing the bird back together, the carver had inserted a couple small pieces of wood or metal inside that made the decoy rattle when shaken.

The decoy had been found by Howes on the North Shore of Massachusetts in the 1950s and had reportedly been one of his prized possessions. Numerous dealers, including Decoys Unlimited principal Ted Harmon, had tried unsuccessfully for decades to get the decoys away from him. Harmon’s persistence and friendship with the dealer ultimately paid off with the consignment of the estate.

As the black-bellied plover crossed the auction bock, the crowd sat silent awaiting an outburst of bidding. At first there was no reaction as the auctioneer asked for a $50,000 opening bid, again no response when he asked for $20,000, and it took some coaxing to get the lot opened at $10,000. The bidding was tepid and the crowd seemed to wonder aloud if the decoy was about to fall well short of the $45/75,000 presale estimate, until a lady in the rear of the gallery hit the shorebird at $11,000, another person just to her left hit it right away at $12,000, and at that point Boston dealer Stephen O’Brien Jr jumped into the fray, standing just to the side of the other two bidders. O’Brien, clutching one of the gallery’s phone lines as he advised and acted on behalf of a client, began hitting the lot briskly.

Moving rapidly in $1,000 increments, O’Brien hit the lot at $30,000, and the lady countered at $31,000. O’Brien jumped the bid to $40,000, and the lady called out $41,000. O’Brien attacked again calling out $45,000, the lady called $46,000. O’Brien jumped the bid to $50,000 and after a couple advances, each methodically countered by the lady, he jumped the bid to $60,000.

With each strategic jump made by O’Brien, the lady nonchalantly followed with a $1,000 advance, at $70,000, she bid $71,000. At $80,000 she bid $81,000, and at $90,000 she calmly bid $91,000. When O’Brien jumped the bid to $100,000, however, her bid of $101,000 was rejected as the auctioneer insisted upon $5,000 increases. She nodded, accepting the bid, and at that point O’Brien conceded, with the lady, identified only as a private Texas collector, claiming the lot at $120,750.

A hollow two-piece peep, also attributed to the Chipman family, was termed “one of the finest peeps we have ever seen,” according to auctioneer Ted Harmon. A private collector in the room claimed the lot at $92,000.

The next of the highly coveted shorebirds from the Howes collection was a yellowlegs, attributed to the Chipman family in Eastham, Mass. The dealer had reportedly discovered the rare shorebird in a basket of peeps that he unearthed in the 1950s. The yellowlegs, circa 1860-1880, had received the unusual treatment of having been hollowed from the bottom to an “eggshell” thickness. The most unusual feature of the decoy, however, was the 90-degree turned head.

Retaining the original exceptional paint, this rare decoy also had the original bill and glass eyes produced on the Cape at the Sandwich Glass Factory .

Estimated at $15/25,000, this shorebird opened for bidding as soon as it was offered to the crowd at $20,000. Bids came from the four telephones at first, until the action got serious and the price continued to rapidly escalate. O’Brien, still with phone and client in hand, began to pound away at the lot, as did a private buyer standing partially obscured in the doorway at the rear of the room. Moving quickly in $2,500 increments, the lot bounced back and forth between the two until the lot hit the $100,000 mark where O’Brien advanced the lot to $105,000. He was countered from the doorway again, and again and again, until he claimed the lot at record price paid at auction for a Chipman shorebird, $143,750.

“Both of those decoys were big surprises,” commented Harmon after the sale. “I knew they could do extremely well, especially the twist head, but I never thought they would break $100,000. They were both gorgeous and were amazing pieces of folk at,” he said.

A Chipman family peep, one of two in the auction and among several other Chipman shorebirds from the Howes collection that were sold, was in pristine original paint and had been hollowed from the bottom in an unusual fashion. This piece also had the Sandwich Glass eyes and was presumable one of the peeps in “the basket” that had been discovered by Howes. Bidding on the lot was somewhat restrained, possibly because it preceding the turn-head Chipman shorebird, although it still easily surpassed estimates as it sold for $31,050.

The next lots to attract serious attention during the first session were two Elmer Crowell merganser decoys. The first to be offered was a rare deep bodied red-breasted drake that had come from the Mayo rig. Cataloged as “a classic Crowell for the advanced collector,” the decoy was in pristine original paint, described as Crowell’s “best.” It was estimated at $40/50,000 and bidding on the lot was brisk with it selling at $50,600.

The selection of miniatures offered included a rare pair of night herons by George Boyd that soared past estimates, selling at $19,550. A Joseph Lincoln miniature old squaw drake also attracted a great deal of interest with it also selling well above estimate at $9,275, while a black duck by the same maker brought $4,787.

Session Two

A Mason premier blue wing teal from the Pitt collection was the first of the decoys to be offered on the second day. It opened for bidding at $7,000, against a $4,5/7,500 presale, and sold moments later for $9,315.

The Ira Hudson pintail drake created quite a stir. It was called “the finest decoy by Hudson that I have ever seen,” by auctioneer Ted Harmon. The rare bird in original paint sold to a private buyer for $69,000.

Shorebirds were once again the star of the day with some of the examples considered to be rigmates of the Thomas Wilson and Chipman family decoys that had been sold on the first day of the auction. While prices were strong, the fireworks never really erupted.

The first of the lots offered, a rare vertically seamed three-piece golden plover by Lothrop Holmes, sold well below the $45/75,000 estimates. Cataloged as having “outstanding, virtually mint paint,” the bird attracted few bids with it selling for what seemed to be a bargain price of $18,400.

The next shorebird to be offered was a black-bellied plover with the same attribution of the Thomas Wilson plover that sold the first day for $120,750. This bird also carried a $45/70,000 presale estimate and once again everyone in the crowd was anxious as the lot crossed the block. The lot opened at $10,000 with competition coming from a private collector in the room against Stephen O’Brien, who was on the telephone with a client. The bids bounced back and forth with O’Brien eventually claiming the lot at $74,750.

A hollow two-piece peep, also attributed to the Chipman family, was termed “one of the finest peeps we have ever seen,” according to Harmon. Also retaining the “outstanding” original paint and Sandwich Glass Factory eyes, this decoy was mounted on two wire legs and it was finished with an “imaginative paint design.” Possibly another of the “basket” shorebirds from the Howes collection, the rare decoy attracted the most attention of any of the shorebirds offered in the second session.

The Elmer Crowell deep bodied red-breasted merganser drake sold at $50,600.

Bidding began at $25,000 with a phone bidder hitting the lot at $27,500 right off the bat. O’Brien hit the lot right away, and was soon countered by a second phone bidder at $40,000. A third phone bidder jumped in at $42,500, although the private collector in the room eventually claimed the lot at $92,000.

A rare “bull” head plover attributed to Chipman, also hollowed to a thin shell, had been termed by Harmon as an “exquisite hollow Nineteenth Century shorebird decoy.” The lot was estimated at $10/15,000 and bidding was virtually a rerun of the action seen on the previous peep. The same private collector competed with O’Brien, who eventually claimed the lot at $48,300.

The next lot to be offered was a feeding plover attributed to the Chipman family that had also been hollowed from the bottom with the piece selling for $13,800, going to the private collector that had lost out on the Chipman family peep and “bull” head plover.

Elmer Crowell shorebirds fared well with an early running yellowlegs with split tail and tack eyes selling just below estimates. In excellent original condition with a nicely mellowed paint and original bill, the rare shorebird was estimated at $25/32,000 with it selling at $24,150.

A rare and delicately carved split tail sanderling with glass eyes by Crowell also caught the eye of collectors. With a provenance of the McCleery collection, the decoy carried a presale estimate of $35/45,000 and it opened at $20,000 with it selling to an absentee bidder for $37,375.

Also attracting interest was a plump black-bellied plover by Crowell in original dry paint, circa 1915-18. Called by the auctioneer, “One of his nicest decoy designs made in an innovative tucked head resting position,” it was estimated at $15/22,000 and sold reasonably at $15,525.

The one decoy that everyone in the room had taken the time to preview was an Ira Hudson pintail drake that was “fresh to the decoy world.” Creating quite a stir, it was called “the finest decoy by Hudson that I have ever seen,” by Harmon. “The reason it is in such exquisite condition is that it sat on a mantel in Chicago for more than 65 years,” he said. The lot was consigned by the original owner’s daughter, now in her 70s, who remembered the decoy as having always been on the mantel.

It had never been fitted with a weight, which led to speculation that the pintail had possibly been a special order decoy. Many in the crowd felt it represented Hudson’s best style.

The untouched original condition working decoy carried a presale estimate of $35/45,000 and opened for bidding at $10,000. Bids came from South Carolina decoy collector Dick McIntyre, three phone bidders and a private collector. McIntyre battled the phones until dropping from the action at $40,000, where the competition narrowed to the private collector and one remaining phone bidder. Bids continued to escalate with the private collector in the room claiming the lot at $69,000.

Decoys Unlimited principal Ted Harmon poses with two shorebirds and a “$250,000 smile.” The decoys, the Chipman family turned-head yellowlegs, left, that realized $143,750, and the Thomas Wilson black-bellied plover that sold for $120,750.

A rare pair of nearly mint mallards by Charles Perdew, thought to have possibly been painted by Edna Perdew, had been discovered by Pitt in Florida, where they had reportedly been in storage in a bank vault. Cataloged as “outstanding in every respect” the bids retained the original marked Perdew lead weights and sold to a phone bidder for $31,625.

Decoratives in the second session included what was termed by the auction house, “One of Elmer’s finest pieces,” an early walking yellowlegs in untouched condition. The Crowell bird, painted in winter plumage with split tail and glass eyes, had an ink inscription across the original blue paper label. A quick burst of bidding from the telephones against a bidder in the room saw it sell to the latter at $25,300.

Crowell decoratives brought good prices throughout the auction with a rare life-sized Baltimore oriole with split tail carving, glass eyes and exceptional paint selling at $12,225, while a one-quarter-size cock pheasant with tack eyes and mellow paint brought $11,500.

The Americana portion of the auction saw mixed results with the majority of the top prices coming from the selection of artwork offered. The Taunton chests both had problems with the child’s chest attracting more attention than the full-sized example.

Several dealers who might have been players on the larger chest declined to comment on it, except one, who asked to remain anonymous and succinctly stated, “We won’t be bidding on it.” Bidding on the lot opened at $15,000 and closed quickly without advancement.

The child’s chest had paint that was believable, yet the top had been replaced and there was other roughness. A good looking example, it appeared to be the real deal and it sold for $40,250.

Paintings from the Howes estate included a European genre scene depicting a family at the dinner table signed Adolph Muncheon that sold for $12,750, a sunset harbor scene with schooners by James Hamilton brought $10,925, and a oil on canvas by Thomas Hill depicting a gentleman fishing a stream deep in the woods sold at $10,350.

Prices include the 15 percent buyer’s premium charged. For further information contact Decoys Unlimited at PO Box 206, West Barnstable MA 02668 or 508-362-2766, or view www.decoysunlimitedinc.com.