Bronze Duck-Head Pen Rest, Joel D. Barber (1876-1952)

Lot 261

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 Sporting Sale 2018, Day 2 by Copley Fine Art Auctions

Live

The Sporting Sale 2018, Day 2

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Jul 20, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-07-20 10:00:00 2018-07-20 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Sporting Sale 2018, Day 2 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-sporting-sale-2018-day-2-3302 On July 19, Copley Fine Art Auctions will lead off their annual Sporting Sale with 140 lots from the Donal C. O’Brien, Jr. Collection of Important American Sporting Art and Decoys. On July 20 Copley will present an additional 425 lots of decoys, fish carvings, and sporting art. Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

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Lot Description

Bronze Duck-Head Pen Rest
Joel D. Barber (1876-1952)
Wilton, CT, c. 1926
13 3/4 in. long

This is an exceedingly rare bronze of this type, fashioned with a dozen extra rippling waves compared to the regular edition. "B / 26" with a copyright mark is engraved on the side of the head for Barber and year it was cast.

Barber writes of these bronze black duck heads in "Wild Fowl Decoys:" “In Plate No. 99 I show a decoy head cast in bronze. I whittled it myself but used as a model an old decoy from the lower Jersey Coast. The body of this decoy was little more than a float to receive a skin but the head was very fine. My jackknife copy of this head reproduced in bronze was sold by art galleries over a period of several years and in considerable numbers. I have always considered the unknown original maker a real artist. Even though he lived and worked, unknown on the Jersey barrens, his Black Duck head has been perpetuated. The feather of accomplishment does not belong to me. I merely whittled what he conceived. After a fashion, however, it vindicates my interest in the art of decoy making. The decoy itself is now a highly prized item of my collection. After my coveting it for several years, the former owner, Mr. J. H. Phillips of Babylon, gave it to me for my records of Barnegat Bay.”

Only a handful of regular-edition black duck head bronzes have hit the auction block over the decades, and they are always in strong demand. This marks the first time we have ever seen or offered this deluxe edition model.
Original condition with minor wear and loose pen sheath.

Provenance: Ronald S. Swanson Collection

Literature: oel Barber, "Wild Fowl Decoys," Garden City, NY, 1937, p. 131, pl. 99, related example illustrated.

Condition

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