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
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Price | Bid Increment |
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$0 | $50 |
$1,000 | $100 |
$2,500 | $250 |
$5,000 | $500 |
$10,000 | $1,000 |
$25,000 | $2,500 |
$50,000 | $5,000 |
Jul 25, 2015 - Jul 26, 2015
An exceedingly rare, hollow Maine decoy. This grand sheldrake is an outstanding example of Down East American folk art by one of Maine's premier decoy carvers. Measuring over twenty inches in length, this racy merganser stands apart from most of Bibbers. The bird displays painted eyes, a flowing carved bill, pegged-together body, and the paint retains a dry surface.
Bibber was a mentor to George Soule (1912-1996) of Freeport, Maine and this decoy was a special gift to his student. Soule proudly displayed it on an eye-level shelf in his den where it remained until his passing. Soule is known for his Decoy Shop in Freeport, Maine, that supplied L.L. Bean with thousands of cork and wooden decoys.
Provenance: George V. Soule Collection
Private Collection
Literature: Joe Engers, ed., "The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys," San Diego, CA, 1990, p. 32, related decoy illustrated.
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