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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Jul 27, 2017 - Jul 28, 2017
Red Knot
Cobb Island, VA, c. 1890
8 in. long
"Shore Bird Decoys," author Henry Fleckenstein writes of a rigmate, "this decoy is one of the type most often attributed to the Cobb family of Cobb Island, Virginia, but factual identification of the maker may never be learned."
A ridge starting at the back of this knot's head sharpens as it leads to the raised wing tips. The U-shaped black, white, and red feathering is that seen on the finest Cobb Island shorebirds. In "Shorebirds," Levinson describes a rigmate as, "an exceptional red knot with superb painting and painted eyes. It is most unusual to find a decoy by the Cobb family dating back well over a hundred years in such pristine condition."
In original paint with gunning wear, including a paint rub on left wing and chip to tail.
Provenance: Lloyd Johnson Collection
Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. Collection
Literature: Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr., “Shore Bird Decoys,” Exton, PA, 1980, p. 30, plate 32, related decoy illustrated.
John Levinson and Somers Headley, "Shorebirds," Centreville, MD, 1991, p. 107, figure 7-13, related decoy illustrated.
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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