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THBEarly Tucked-Head Black Duck Decoy, Albert Davids Laing (1811-1886)
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
LiveFeb 19, 2021
Lots 1-292 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com
View Full Catalog (292)
- Lot Description
Albert Davids Laing (1811-1886)
New York, NY, c. 1835
14 in. long
In 1918, the Laing family moved from Rathaway, New Jersey, to a residence they named Laingside in New York City on the East River. Albert Laing's father, a merchant, opened a shop at 250 Pearl Street adjacent to the Fulton Fish Market. With direct access to this prime trading post, the young Laing became a market hunter.
"Considering functional design," writes Laing authority Ronald S. Swanson, "Laing's decoys are extremely successful. Minimum weight, compactness and durability are combined with accuracy of species and an attitude of quiet repose to create a highly effective working decoy. The quality of Laing's designs accounts for his influence of the makers of the Stratford school and the lower Delaware River and perhaps other areas."
In 1863 Laing purchased a house in Stratford, Connecticut, where he lived as a gentleman farmer. His decoy rig went north with him where it had a tremendous impact on the next generation of the areas decoy makers and hunters. His rig totaling over one hundred decoys was hunted over for many decades after his passing and the carvings became the template for the Stratford School of decoy making. Notably, Charles E. "Shang" Wheeler and Louis Rathmell are perhaps the only two early followers of Laing who approached the high bar that Laing set. His stylistic influence also appears to have extended to the Delaware River, as directly seen in the rig of his cousins, Richard Wistar Davids (1825–1863) and Caspar W. Morris (1806-1877).
This elegant early Laing has a head that is deeply tucked into the sleek thin body which has slight wing separation in the back.
Old working paint with gunning wear and roughness to tail.
Provenance: John Dillon Collection
Literature: Ronald S. Swanson, "Albert D. Laing: A decoy maker unequaled in his time," Decoy Magazine, Burtonsville, MD, July/August 1995, front cover, pp. 8-16, related decoys illustrated and discussed. Copley Fine Art Auctions, "The Sporting Sale 2006," July 26-27, 2006, lot 358, exact decoy illustrated.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.Condition
- Shipping Info
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