Running Golden Plover by Lothrop Turner Holmes (1824-1899)

Lot 94

About Seller

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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About Auction

The Winter Sale 2025, Day 1 by Copley Fine Art Auctions

Live

The Winter Sale 2025, Day 1

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 21, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-02-21 10:00:00 2025-02-21 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Winter Sale 2025, Day 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-winter-sale-2025-day-1-17703 Lots 1-261 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

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Lot Description

Running Golden Plover
Lothrop Turner Holmes (1824-1899)
Kingston, MA, c. 1860
10 in. long

Unlike many professional carvers who earned a living selling their decoys, Lothrop Turner Holmes only carved decoys for his own use along the marshes of the Jones River in Kingston and where it flows into Duxbury and Plymouth Bays.

Holmes is one of the earliest documented shorebird makers from any region and is considered one of the top decoy makers of the 19th century.

This rare decoy is believed to be the only known Holmes golden plover in original paint to have surfaced at auction, making it even more rare than the maker's coveted ruddy turnstones and black-bellied plover. The only other known golden plover, a rigmate to this bird, resides in the Harmon collection. At least two other rigmate black-bellied plover are known to exist. One of those is featured in "Shorebirds: The Birds, The Hunters, The Decoys" by Levinson and Headley, and hailed from the Grant Nelson Collection.

This O'Brien Collection golden plover displays spectacular blended feather paint, the maker's signature split-tail carving, and remarkable condition. The underside retains the Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection ink stamp.
Outstanding original paint with light gunning wear.

Provenance: Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection
Private Collection

Literature: John M. Levinson and Somers G. Headley, "Shorebirds: The Birds, The Hunters, The Decoys," Centreville, MD, 1991, p. 57, pl. 4-11, rigmate illustrated.
Laurence Sheehan, "The Sporting Life," New York, NY, 1992, p. 83, exact decoy illustrated.
Copley Fine Art Auctions, The Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection of Important American Sporting Art and Decoys, Sessions III, Plymouth, MA, July 19, 2018, lot 16, exact decoy illustrated.

Condition

Please refer to the description; if you have questions, email colin@copleyart.com.
Shipping Info
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