For anyone wondering if the decoy auction market would continue to be strong this year, Guyette & Schmidt, Inc, has an answer. The 23rd annual spring decoy auction was held by Guyette & Schmidt on April 24 and 25 at the Pheasant Run Resort, in conjunction with the National Antique Decoy & Sporting Collectibles Show, and it grossed $3,568,559.
The crowd was large and the prices were high. Long bidding battles broke out time and time again, driving many decoys well over presale estimates. Prices were particularly high for Midwestern and Louisiana decoys, as well as decorative carvings by the Ward Brothers, Crisfield, Md. Three decoys sold for more than $100,000, nine lots sold for more than $50,000, 34 lots for over $25,000 and 76 lots for over $10,000.
One of the more interesting aspects of this auction was that it contained many quality decoys that had sold at auction previously and, therefore, presented a great look at how the decoy auction market is evolving. A great decoy, a sleeping mallard by Enoch Reindahl, which sold at the Jim McCleery auction in 2000 for $46,000, brought a good return, selling this time around for $92,000, an auction record for the maker.
Other examples were a Lee Dudley ruddy duck that sold in 1991 for $52,800, and sold this time for $269,000, a new auction record for a North Carolina decoy. The best-known mallard drake by Charles Perdew sold at auction in July 1991 for $21,000; this time it sold for $137,000. A swimming Canada goose by Ira Hudson that sold at auction in 1985 for $19,800 sold this time around for $71,875.
World record auction prices were established for many decoy makers, including Phinneas Reeves, Lee Dudley, Dave Watson, Enoch Reindahl, Cassius Smith, Hiram Hotze, Mitchell LaFrance, Nicole Vadacovich, Gaston Isadore, Adam Brown, Antonaise St Germain, Ben Dye, Mark Whipple, Art Herron, Ray Thompson, “Heck” Whittington and others. Gary Guyette of Guyette & Schmidt attributed the high prices to the excitement generated by auctioning decoys from famous old-time collections and new buyers participating because of Guyette & Schmidt’s cross-marketing program with Christie’s.
The sale featured decoys from several well-known decoy collections, including Joe French, Marathon, Fla.; Howard and Jean Waddell, Glastonbury, Conn.; Dave Galliher, Muncie, Ill.; Knute Bartrug, Salisbury, Md.; and Gene and Linda Kangas, Painesville, Ohio.
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
Guyette and Schmidt, Inc’s next decoy sale will be held on July 26 and 27 at the Wyndham Hotel in Portland, Maine.
The auction will be held in conjunction with a 75-table decoy show at the same location. Guyette & Schmidt, Inc provides free decoy appraisals to anyone sending a decoy photo and stamped, self-addressed envelope to Guyette & Schmidt, Inc, PO Box 1170, St Michaels MD 21663.
For information, 410-745-0485 or www.guyetteandschmidt.com .
