Goldeneye Drake, Benjamin Holmes (1843-1912)

Lot 256

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

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 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

View Full Catalog (425)

Lot Description

Goldeneye Drake
Benjamin Holmes (1843-1912)
Stratford, CT, c. 1880
14 in. long

This is one of the most important Holmes decoys to come to market; the underside bears the Mackey Collection ink stamp and an "A. D. SANFORD" brand. Sanford had numerous Holmes decoys in his Saugatuck River rig.

This charming example was illustrated in Charles E. "Shang" Wheeler's chapter of Eugene V. Connett’s 1947 masterwork “Duck Shooting Along the Atlantic Tidewater.” In addition to Wheeler, numerous prominent figures in the early decoy and sporting art community contributed to this volume, which includes chapters written by A. Elmer Crowell and Lynn Bogue Hunt.
In working Wheeler paint with even gunning wear and touch-up to bill tip.

Provenance: A. D. Sanford Rig
William J. Mackey, Jr. Collection
Ronald S. Swanson Collection

Literature: Henry C. Chitwood, "Connecticut Decoys," West Chester, PA, 1987, p. 42, exact decoy illustrated.
Eugene V. Connett, ed., "Duck Shooting Along the Atlantic Tidewater," New York, NY, 1947, p. 68, exact decoy illustrated.
Richard A. Bourne Co., Inc., "Very Rare and Important American Bird Decoys from the Collection of the late William J. Mackey, Jr. of Belford, New Jersey," Hyannis, MA, Sessions I & II, 1973, lot 525, exact decoy illustrated.

Condition

Condition report requests can be made via email or by telephone (info@copleyart.com or 617.536.0030). 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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