Early Preening Canvasback Drake Decoy

Lot 257

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 2021, Day 1 by Copley Fine Art Auctions

Live

The Winter Sale 2021, Day 1

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 19, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-02-19 10:00:00 2021-02-19 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Winter Sale 2021, Day 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-winter-sale-2021-day-1-6296 Lots 1-292 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

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Lot Description

Stratford School, CT, c. 1880
13 in. long

The discovery of this preening canvasback is an exciting early addition to the already-impressive portfolio of the Stratford School of decoy carvers. This decoy was sourced from the Currituck Shooting Club and bears a distinctive F.B.A. brand which has been found on several early and important Connecticut decoys, including a closely related and extensively illustrated preening goose which has been featured two dust-jacket covers, including the front and center of â€œShangâ€ by Dixon Merkt. This famous goose was also owned by Walter Bush a one time. Decoys from this rig and a Joel Barber drawing of closely related preening teal are held in the Shelburne Museum. This Bush Barber connection was of little surprise to Shelburne Museum curator and Barber authority Kory Rogers, given his knowledge of the early collectors' close relationship. One other related canvasback has been held for many years in a premier New England collection.

This early decoy was confidently executed with bold form and fine features. The base of the neck transitions perfectly from the body and the preening head wraps around and is inlaid into the right wing. Each wing is raised in the front, a successful embellishment not seen elsewhere in this carving school. The raised primaries along the sides and back are a feature that Wheeler used in his canvasbacks and geese. The fashion in which the bird was hollowed, seems entirely unique to the maker during this period, an inlaid central bottom board finished with chamfered edges. The imprint of a teardrop weight on this shallow keel can be seen on the bottom as a fingerprint of the region.

The duck's right side bears the museum identification code "A51.73" in red paint. This carving is not attached to the collector's base and the underside bears the painted inscription "Canvasback = Male = 'Sleeper' From Currituck Shooting Club, Poplar Branch, NC." The underside of the accompanying base also displays the inscription "Canvasback - Male / Head in Sleeping or Preening Position / From Currituck Shooting Club, Poplar Branch, NC."
A mix of original and early gunning paint with some shot scars, including on the left side of head.

Provenance: Currituck Shooting Club
Walter L. Bush Collection
Collection of a New York City Museum, acquired from the above in 1953

Literature: Dixon MacD. Merkt, "Shang: A Biography of Charles E. Wheeler," Spanish Fork, UT, 1984, front dust-jacket cover and p. 66, closely related rigmate sleeping goose illustrated. Gene and Linda Kangas, Decoys: A North American Survey, Spanish Fork, UT, 1983, back dust jacket cover and p. 84, closely related rigmate sleeping goose illustrated. Old Sate House, "Shang Wheeler and the Housatonic Decoy," exhibition catalog, Hartford, CT, 1983, closely related rigmate sleeping goose illustrated. Henry C. Chitwood, "Connecticut Decoys," West Chester, PA, 1987, p. 43, F.B.A. rigmates illustrated.

Condition

Please email condition report requests to colin@copleyart.com. 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.
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