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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Jul 27, 2017 - Jul 28, 2017
High-Head Black Duck Drake
Louis C. Rathmell (1898-1974)
Danbury, CT, c. 1941
17 3/4 in. long
The maker’s refined head carving, dynamic poses, and exceptional scratch and feather paint place him in the ranks of Stratford’s finest carvers, alongside Shang Wheeler. This black duck drake with a high and turned head and exquisite paint shows Rathmell at his best.
"...one of the best gunning rigs ever made." -Dixon Merkt
Excellent original paint with even gunning wear.
Provenance: Louis Rathmell Rig
Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. Collection, acquired from the maker, c. 1962
Literature: Cliff Alexander, "Lou Rathmell: A decoy maker who lived in a castle," Decoy Magazine, November/December 2015, p. 25 and front cover, exact decoy illustrated.
Dixon Merkt, "Gentleman Carvers of Connecticut," The Clarion, Spring 1980, p. 50, rigmate illustrated.
Peter Johnson and Alf Wannenburgh, “The World of Shooting,” Lausanne, Switzerland, 1987, pp. 259-261, exact decoy illustrated.
Jackson Parker, “O’Brien Classic Decoys on Display at Museum of American Folk Art,” North American Decoys: Wildfowl Carvers and Collectors News, Spanish Fork, UT, Spring/Summer 1982, p. 36, exact decoy illustrated.
Exhibited: New York, New York, “The Art of the American Decoy: Folk Sculpture from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Donal C. O’Brien Jr.,” Museum of American Folk Art, September 3–November 8, 1981.
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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