Spear Rig Brant Decoy, Joseph W. Lincoln (1859-1938)

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The Winter Sale 2020

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 15, 2020

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• Lot Description
  Spear Rig Brant
  Joseph W. Lincoln (1859-1938)
  Accord, MA, c. 1910
  18 in. long
  
  Many artists and makers depend on patronage and special relationships. As John C. Phillips was to A. Elmer Crowell and The Bishops Head Gun Club was to the Ward brothers, so the Spear family was to Joseph W. Lincoln. As hunting companions and reliable buyers of his decoys, Lincoln made some of his finest work for the Spears. Chester F. Spear (1888-1956), along with his younger brother, Ernie (b. 1897), and their father, Henry E. Spear (b. 1869), hunted the coastline just south of Boston, where they shot over their Lincoln rigs. This decoy is branded “C. F. SPEAR” and “SCITUATE” on the underside. The clean form of Lincoln's Spear rig brant patterns, combined with his exacting and elegant paint application, place them among his most desirable species. Very few of these early Spear rig brant in original paint have ever surfaced. The small group of brant decoys from the C. F. Spear rig are considered by collectors to be the best by New England decoy-collecting standards. Indeed, Spear rig brant have been featured in museum exhibitions, books, and acquired by top collectors, including Dr. James M. McCleery, George Thompson, Jim Doherty, and Donald Kirson.
  
  Dr. George Ross Starr Jr. came to know the Spear family and their exceptional decoys, eventually obtaining some of them. The most celebrated decoy in Starr’s collection was one that Chester Spear had reserved for the mantle. Starr recounts in his book, “Many years ago Joe made the beautiful wood duck...for his friend Chester Spear of Scituate Harbor. It is an actual working decoy, but Chet liked it so much that it never left his mantle shelf. After Chet’s death, Mrs. Spear sold it to me for the collection. This is Lincoln at his very best.” The Spear Starr wood duck became the icon of the Starr Collection, even before it set the world record for a decoy at auction in 1986. As one of the best of the Spear rig brant to ever come on the market, this marks a rare opportunity to acquire one of this Massachusetts maker's top works.
  Original paint with gunning wear, a crack in neck with stabilizing nails, and a typical Lincoln check along the underside.
  
  Provenance: Chester F. Spear Rig, acquired from the maker
  Private Collection
  
  Literature: Robert Shaw, "Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D.," Houston, TX, 1992, p. 31, rigmate illustrated.
  Robert Shaw, "Bird Decoys of North America," New York, NY, 2010, p. 4, rigmate illustrated, p. 156.
  Cap Vinal, "Joseph W. Lincoln," Rockland, MA, 2002, p. 37, rigmate illustrated.
  John and Shirley Delph, "New England Decoys," Exton, PA, 1981, p. 136, rigmate illustrated.
  The Ward Museum, "Masters of Decoy and Wildfowl Carvings: The Kirson Collection," Salisbury, MD, 2011, p. 2, rigmate illustrated.
  John Clayton, “Massachusetts Masters: Decoys, Shorebirds, and Decorative Carvings Exhibition Catalog,” The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury University, 2010, p. 50, rigmate illustrated.
  George Ross Starr Jr. M.D., "Decoys of the Atlantic Flyway," Tulsa, OK, 1974, p. 153, Spear discussed.
  James Julia and Gary Guyette, Inc., "Important Waterfowl Decoys & Bird Carvings at Auction, April 27 & 28, 1989,” St. Charles, IL, front cover and lot 548, exact decoy illustrated.

  Condition

  Please email condition report requests to colin@copleyart.com. 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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