Swimming Merganser Hen, Franklin Pierce Wright (1854-1939)

Lot 385

About Seller

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

Bid Increments

Price	Bid Increment
$0	$50
$1,000	$100
$2,500	$250
$5,000	$500
$10,000	$1,000
$25,000	$2,500
$50,000	$5,000

About Auction

The Sporting Sale 2018, Day 2 by Copley Fine Art Auctions

Live

The Sporting Sale 2018, Day 2

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Jul 20, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-07-20 10:00:00 2018-07-20 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Sporting Sale 2018, Day 2 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-sporting-sale-2018-day-2-3302 On July 19, Copley Fine Art Auctions will lead off their annual Sporting Sale with 140 lots from the Donal C. O’Brien, Jr. Collection of Important American Sporting Art and Decoys. On July 20 Copley will present an additional 425 lots of decoys, fish carvings, and sporting art. Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

View Full Catalog (425)

Lot Description

Swimming Merganser Hen
Franklin Pierce Wright (1854-1939)
West Barnstable, MA, c. 1890
19 in. long

“Franklin Pierce Wright, the son of sea captain Zenas Weeks and Sarah Handy Wright, grew up in the village of Sandwich on Cape Cod: he was one of four boys. As a young man he worked on the railroad out of his hometown, but by the time he was married in 1885 (his new bride was Dulcina “Elsie” Crocker) he had moved north across the Cape to West Barnstable. This was very likely because it abutted the Barnstable Great Marsh. He was a seasonal market gunner and the marsh provided a wealth of waterfowl and shorebird habitat.” -Gwladys Hopkins, Massachusetts Masterpieces

Discussing a rigmate in “Massachusetts Masterpieces: The Decoy as Art,” Hopkins writes, “Only three, perhaps four, other decoys are known by this maker. One is the snakiest, raciest merganser ever found.”

Finding Wright decoys with their original heads, bills, and tails intact is nearly impossible. This merganser displaying a racy attitude with pronounced raised wing carving is one of the maker's best examples.

In 1980 Hawthorne loaned this decoy to the Ward Museum where it was exhibited for several decades. It bears the museum's oval inventory sticker on the underside.
In old paint with gunning wear and age lines.

Provenance: Davison B. Hawthorne Collection

Literature: Gwladys Hopkins, "Massachusetts Masterpieces: The Decoy as Art," Lincoln, MA, 2016, p. 85, rigmate illustrated.

Exhibited: Salisbury, Maryland, The Ward Foundation and Museum, 1980-2000.

Condition

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.
Shipping Info
- Shipping info
  
  Copley Fine Art Auctions does not handle the shipping of any items. Shipping is the sole responsibility of the buyer. Once your payment has cleared, and we have received your authorized shipping release form items may be released for shipment. Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC shall have no liability for any loss or damage to such items. Buyers should allow up to four weeks for shipment.
  
  PLEASE BE AWARE THAT INTERNET BIDDERS MAY NOT PICK UP THEIR ITEMS AT THE SALE SITE. ITEMS CAN BE PICKED UP BY APPOINTMENT OR SHIPPED STARTING FIVE DAYS AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE SALE