Black-Bellied Plover Lothrop Turner Holmes (1824-1899)

Lot 211

About Seller

65 Sharp Street
Hingham, MA 02043
United States

Copley Fine Art Auctions is the world's leading American sporting art auction company. Located in Hingham, MA, Copley specializes in antique decoys and 19th- and 20th-century American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Principal Stephen O'Brien Jr., a fourth-generation sportsman with a refined colle...Read more

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About Auction

The Winter Sale by Copley Fine Art Auctions

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The Winter Sale

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 16, 2018 - Feb 17, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-02-16 11:00:00 2018-02-17 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Winter Sale https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-winter-sale-2952 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

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Lot Description

Black-Bellied Plover
Lothrop Turner Holmes (1824-1899)
Kingston, MA, c. 1860
10 3/4 in. long

Unlike many professional carvers who earned a living selling their decoys, Lothrop Holmes, of Kingston, Massachusetts, only carved decoys for his own rig, which he used along the marshes of the Jones River and Duxbury Bay.

Lothrop Turner Holmes is one of the earliest documented shorebird makers from any region and is widely considered the top decoy maker of the nineteenth century.

This exact decoy is featured in "Shorebirds: The Birds, The Hunters, The Decoys" by Levinson and Headley. It features everything that astute collectors look for in a Massachusetts shorebird decoy, including exceptional form, spectacular blended feather paint, split-tail carving, stellar condition, and impeccable provenance.

A rigmate plover residing in a private California collection is believed to be the only other example to have survived from this important rig that features the maker’s tremendous wing paint. Outstanding original paint with even gunning wear and a replaced bill.

Provenance: John and Elizabeth Levinson Collection
Grant Nelson Collection

Literature: Gwladys Hopkins, "Massachusetts Masterpieces," Lincoln, MA, 2016, p. 13, related example illustrated.
John M. Levinson and Somers G. Headly, "Shorebirds: The Birds, The Hunters, The Decoys," Centreville, MD, 1991, p. 57, exact decoy illustrated.

Condition

Condition report requests can be made via email or by telephone (info@copleyart.com or 617.536.0030). Any condition statement given is a courtesy to customers, Copley will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition.
Shipping Info
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