The first of the annual weeklong series of New England summertime decoy auctions kicked off on Monday, July 13, with Ted Harmon’s Decoys Unlimited two-day sale attracting a good crowd. With approximately 1,000 lots crossing the auction block and a standing-room-only crowd in attendance, Harmon commented that he was pleased overall with the results despite some apparent softness in the marketplace.
Having fallen into a pattern of conducting his auction prior to both Copley Fine Art and Guyette & Schmidt, the formula has worked well in the past for both the auctioneer and buyers alike. “Last year, being first was a good thing,” stated Harmon in regard to the decoy week schedule. His auction set the pace for the New England auctions with a good selection of shorebirds and decoys bringing solid prices, some in the six-figure range. “This year it wasn’t quite so hot. A lot of people were sitting on their hands waiting to see what was going to happen with the long birds,” a collection of Crowell decoys to be offered by another auction firm in the days that followed.
“The better items did as we expected,” stated the auctioneer in regard to the stable pricing seen at that level, “and the middle line items did as we expected” he noted with some dismay.
Shorebirds once again led the way at the sale and local decoys by carvers such as Elmer Crowell continued to bring good prices.
While most of the people visiting Cape Cod were headed to the beach on Monday at 11 am, a large crowd of decoy collectors were gathered in the auction hall awaiting the start of the sale. The first lot, always a zinger at Harmon’s, was a rare Mason snipe shorebird, circa 1890, in superb original dry paint. Estimated at $20/30,000, the decoy was thought to have been from the same rig as one pictured in Mason Decoys by Goldberger and Haid. It was also cataloged as one of three known.
Bidding on the Mason snipe was active with the lot handily exceeding estimates as it sold for $40,250.
The following lot, a Mason robin snipe with glass eyes and a nail bill was listed as being in excellent original condition and was marked in ink on the underside “Mason Knot, ca. 1890‱900.” Part of a group that were reportedly used as “salesman samples,” the snipe was decorated with “extra fine original paint and excellent patina.” Estimated at $20/25,000, the shorebird hammered down at $23,000.
The top lot of the sale came from the selection of shorebirds as a John Thomas Wilson oversized feeding willet was offered. “There are not enough superlatives to accurately capture the elegance, presence and importance of this decoy,” stated Harmon in the catalog. Carved in Ipswich, Mass., circa 1880, the rare decoys were originally thought to have been carved by Fred Nikol, however, recent scholarship now attributes them to Wilson.
The decoys were part of a rig that at some point was broken up, with four of the birds moving with the family to Minnesota. “They were just something that the people had that they thought were interesting, they kept four of them and probably just got rid of the rest of the rig,” said Harmon. “They really had no idea that they were worth anything at all.” A dealer discovered the decoys in the family home and reportedly purchased them, but told the family that if they turned out to be worth more than he originally thought, he would return and a deal would be worked out to split the excess profits.
Two of the Wilson shorebirds were offered at Harmon’s auction last summer with one selling at $230,000, while another in an upright pose brought $138,000.
While the prices posted for the Wilson willets this time around paled in comparison, they still attracted a great deal of interest. The oversized feeding willet was offered on the first day of the auction. With deeply carved wings, glass eyes and a wooden bill, the bird was in excellent overall condition with minor restoration to the bill and tail listed in the catalog. Measuring 15 inches from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, the plump decoy also measured almost 12 inches in girth.
Estimated at $75/100,000, the Wilson willet oversized feeding decoy saw active, but brief, bidding with it hammering down at $80,500.
Its rigmate, sold on the second day of the sale, a Wilson willet in an upright position carried the same estimate of $75/100,000, although bidding was tepid. Opening at $26,000, the lot progressed slowly with it selling to a telephone bidder for $34,500.
Offered as the opening lot on the second day of the auction was another Mason snipe in excellent original condition that also set the pace for the day exceeding estimates as it sold for $42,500.
Other shorebirds of interest included a split-tail curlew with painted eyes that was said to be “identical to those found with the ‘Fox rig’ brand.” In a wonderful dry untouched paint with a warm mellow patina, the decoy sold just below estimates at $23,000.
Two Harry Shourds shorebirds did well with a robin snipe in bright spring plumage selling at $20,700, while a black-bellied plover in fall plumage brought $17,250. An Elmer Crowell yellowlegs also attracted attention with it selling at $13,800.
A yellowlegs decoy by Seabrook, N.H., carver George Boyd, one of a rig of 11 shorebirds that were sold by Harmon last year after being discovered in a basket near a furnace in a Cape Cod basement, was back on the market. Termed “one of his very best,” the Boyd yellowlegs sold just below the $14/18,000 presale estimates at $13,800.
A Boyd merganser hen with a slightly turned head also did well at $12,650.
Other waterfowl decoys in the auction that attracted a great deal of attention included a blue wing teal drake made by “Harvey” Stevens of the Stevens Decoy Factory, Weedsport, N.Y. The rare bird was one of what Harmon called the “Famous Four,” a group of decoys by Stevens that had been used in a rig locally in Orleans and acquired by the late decoy collector Burt Williams. The decoy, described as a “fine decoy for either the serious collector of classic tea decoys or decoys made by the Stevens Decoy Factory,” was said to have been the best of the bunch when discovered. In nearly unused condition, the attractive bird sold between estimates at $37,950.
Other working decoys included a Ward Brothers bluebill drake with minor wear noted on the sides and head. Signed on the bottom by both Lem and Steve Ward, the decoy sold at $16,100. An Elmer Crowell tucked head swimming merganser sold for $18,400, while a Crowell whistler made $7,475.
A whistler decoy by D.K. Nikol, Smith’s Falls, Ontario, with a provenance of the McCleery collection, was actively bid with it being knocked down at $14,375.
A Thomas Wilson, Ipswich, Mass., merganser in a crusty and crazed original paint was termed a good buy by Harmon with it selling below estimates at $11,500.
Also doing well was a pair of half-sized wall mount flying decoys by Chauncey Wheeler that had descended in the carver’s family. “This one of a kind set remained in the home where they’ve been on the wall for the past 75 years,” according to Wheeler’s daughter. In excellent original condition, the wall mounts sold at $37,950.
Attracting the attention of serious collectors was a hissing goose from Southwestern Canada that had been picked at a Canadian antiques show many years ago. The decoy surfaced at the show and was grabbed by a general antiques collector that merely appreciated it for its looks. Several decoy collectors saw the bird before it left the show and made offers to purchase it, although the collector ultimately decided to take the bird home.
Attributed to the Reeves family that made decoys for the Long Point Shooting Club, the thin-walled hollow carved decoy with a swept-back neck was in excellent original paint. When Harmon first saw the decoy, he placed an estimate on it in the $10,000 range, however, after looking the bird over he increased it to $15/25,000. Bidding on the lot was brisk with it opening at $11,000 and selling to one of several telephone bidders competing for the lot at $25,300.
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, 508-362-2766 or www.decoysunlimitedinc.net .
