The Rockefeller Wood Duck Pair, Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949)

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Mar 4, 2022

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• Lot Description
  The Rockefeller Wood Duck Pair
  Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949)
  Stratford, CT, c. 1935
  14 in. long
  
  “Wheeler worked from nature. He loved to watch the ducks in the local ponds and estuaries, especially when they were relaxing and resting. He studied their attitudes and, in particular, their head positions. Then, he would go home and try to catch their gracious, fluid shapes in his manmade birds. He was a realist with a sure instinct for sculptural form.” — Adele Earnest, "The Art of the Decoy," 1965
  
  The Rockefeller wood ducks, along with the Shelburne Museum’s “Champion” mallards, are considered to be among Wheeler’s finest decoy pairs. Viewed from an even wider lens, one would be hard-pressed to find a better wood duck pair by any maker.
  
  Peggy and David Rockefeller acquired this duo from Thomas C. Marshall for their “Art of the Western Hemisphere” Collection. “Shang” book author Dixon Merkt describes Marshall as “the leading historian of Connecticut decoy carving.” Indeed, Marshall was a contributing author to Henry Chitwood’s “Connecticut Decoys.” A dedication to Marshall written by Adele Earnest leads this 1987 volume. Connecticut decoy collector, historian, and carver Donal C. O’Brien Jr. facilitated the Marshall-Rockefeller exchange.
  
  It appears Marshall cherry-picked this pair from Wheeler’s personal collection. These exact birds can be seen in a photograph of Wheeler's exhibition at the legendary 1948 National Decoy Makers Contest and Exhibition at Grand Central Palace in New York City. After Wheeler’s passing the following year, Marshall was tasked with inventorying the estate. Missing from the estate, which included “74 Exhibition decoys,” is any mention of wood ducks. The drake then appears in 1965 as part of the Marshall Collection in Earnest’s “The Art of the Decoy.”
  
  The bulk of the aforementioned exhibition decoys from Wheeler’s estate were brokered by Marshall to the Connecticut Audubon Society and were later sold to one of the nation’s preeminent private collections.
  
  Earnest, with her elegant and revolutionary insight into decoys, discusses Wheeler extensively. “Wheeler worked from nature,” she states, “He loved to watch the ducks in the local ponds and estuaries, especially when they were relaxing and resting. He studied their attitudes and, in particular, their head positions. Then, he would go home and try to catch their gracious, fluid shapes in his manmade birds. He was a realist with a sure instinct for sculptural form.”
  
  This pair clearly demonstrates the qualities to which Earnest alludes. Both birds have relaxed crests and turned heads. The hen’s head is also tucked and resting in her breast. Both are finished with Shang's best feathering and blending. The undersides of the hollow bodies retain their original tear-drop weights, the bases of the leather anchor-ties, and their sequential “DR” inventory number tags.
  
  A smaller flat-bottomed wood duck drake was selected for the front and back dust-jacket cover of “Shang” and that decoy is illustrated numerous times inside the book across from its mate. That smaller flat-bottomed drake and hen were the sole featured lots on the cover of the November 1996 Guyette and Schmidt Inc. auction catalog.
  Excellent original paint with light gunning wear.
  
  Provenance: Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler Rig
  Thomas C. Marshall Collection, acquired from the above, 1948-49
  Peggy and David Rockefeller Collection, acquired from the above through Donal C. O'Brien Jr., 1973
  Private Collection, acquired from the sale of the above
  
  Literature: Adele Earnest, "The Art of The Decoy: American Bird Carvings," New York, NY, 1965, p. 75, exact drake illustrated. Christie's, "The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller," New York, NY, May 10, 2018, lot 1075, exact pair illustrated. J. Barnitz, et al., “The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Art of the Western Hemisphere,” vol. 2, New York, NY, 1988, p. 303, no. 192, exact pair illustrated. Henry C. Chitwood, "Connecticut Decoys," West Chester, PA, 1987, pp. 46-47, exact pair illustrated in 1948 exhibition. Guyette and Schmidt, "North American Decoys at Auction, November 6 & 7, 1996," Easton, MD, front cover and lots 469 & 470, smaller flat-bottomed hen and drake illustrated. Exhibited: New York, NY, “National Decoy Makers Contest and Exhibition: Special Exhibit by Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler,” 1948.

  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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