Early Raised-Wing Golden Plover by A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952)

Lot 79

About Seller

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

Bid Increments

Price	Bid Increment
$0	$50
$1,000	$100
$2,500	$250
$5,000	$500
$10,000	$1,000
$25,000	$2,500
$50,000	$5,000

About Auction

The Winter Sale 2025, Day 1 by Copley Fine Art Auctions

Live

The Winter Sale 2025, Day 1

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 21, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-02-21 10:00:00 2025-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Winter Sale 2025, Day 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-winter-sale-2025-day-1-17703 Lots 1-261 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

View Full Catalog (261)

Lot Description

Early Raised-Wing Golden Plover
A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952)
East Harwich, MA, c. 1910
10 1/2 in. long

Born in East Harwich, Massachusetts, Elmer Crowell possessed an early fascination with ornithology and hunting. These passions led to a career as a market gunner in the late 1800s. In 1898 Dr. John C. Phillips, Jr. (1876-1938), a sportsman who was also a prominent member of Boston society and a prolific author, asked Crowell to manage his Wenham Lake hunting camp. Upon seeing Crowell's masterful carvings, Phillips and the camp's affluent guests persuaded Crowell to make decoys for them. The resulting decoys from this early period are some of the most desirable bird carvings ever made. The father of American bird carving, Elmer Crowell's influence on all future carvers cannot be overstated.

This early Crowell model shows "dust-jacket" style wing carving and elaborate paint. The efforts required to make this type of decoy were time consuming and Crowell had pretty much abandoned the model altogether by 1920. This rare example stands out as one of the only golden plover decoys with this wing treatment known to exist. The underside retains the "NELSON" Collection stamp for Grant Nelson who assembled one of the finest shorebird decoy collections ever assembled.
Original paint with even gunning wear, very minor one-third-inch restoration to wing tip, slightly lifted grain line by stick hole, and very minor spot of touch-up to original bill.

Provenance: Grant Nelson Collection
Private Collection, Florida

Literature: Stephen B. O'Brien Jr. and Chelsie W. Olney, "Elmer Crowell: Father of American Bird Carving," Hingham, MA, 2019, pp. 218-219, related decoys illustrated. William J. Mackey Jr., "American Bird Decoys," New York, NY, 1965, p. 64, pl. III, and dust-jacket cover, related decoys illustrated. John and Shirley Delph, "New England Decoys," Exton, PA, 1990, dust-jacket cover, related decoys illustrated. Jeff Waingrow, "American Waterfowl Decoys," New York, NY, 1985, pp. 90-91 and back cover, related decoy illustrated.

Condition

Please refer to the description; if you have questions, email colin@copleyart.com.
Shipping Info
- Shipping info
  
  Copley does not offer in-house packing or shipping. For clients who require shipping, please complete the Shipping Release Form and return it with your payment. The form includes a list of shippers we frequently work with.