20 Winter Street
Pembroke, MA 02359
United States
Founded in 2005, Copley Fine Art Auctions is a boutique auction house specializing in antique decoys and American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Over the course of the last two decades, the firm has set auction records for not only individual decoy makers, but also entire carving regions. Copley...Read more
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Jul 24, 2016 - Jul 25, 2016
Canvasback Drake
Capt. John C. Schweikart (1870-1954)
Detroit and Strawberry Island, MI, c. 1910
A rare hollow St. Clair Flats decoy exhibiting glass eyes, carved bill detail, a signature bull neck, and a hollow head. The decoy is finished with aluminum wing tips and a special two-piece copper bottom plate which, when unlatched, serves as a keel.
John Schweikart lived and worked in Detroit. John and his brother Carl were motor boat and racing yacht builders. In addition to serving as the president of Schweikart Boat Works, John would sail his own boat, "The Huntress," to victory in regattas and to his camp on Strawberry Island on Lake St. Clair to hunt and fish.
This decoy and the hen offered in this sale represent one of the finest Schweikart pairs to come on the market and both hail from the same prominent art collection.
Original paint with gunning wear, minor touch-up to bill tip, and flaking on body.
Provenence: Private Collection
Literature: Robert Shaw, "Bird Decoys of North America," New York, NY, 2010, dust jacket and pp. 236-237, related examples illustrated.
Joe Engers, ed. "The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys," San Diego, CA, 1990, p. 215, related pair illustrated.
Donna Tonelli, "Fish and Fowl Decoys of the Great Lakes," Atglen, PA, 2002, p. 62, related example illustrated.
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