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Pembroke, MA 02359
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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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Feb 21, 2025
The Tyler Hooded Merganser
Lloyd Tyler (1898-1970)
Crisfield, MD, c. 1930
16 in. long
Lloyd Tyler was born and raised in Crisfield, Maryland, and lived across the street from the Ward Brothers. He was nearly the same age as the Wards, yet is credited with beginning his carving career eight years prior to them. With Crisfield's three greatest carvers living virtually on top of each other, there was clearly a drive of creative energy shared between them. That said, Tyler and the Wards each took the regional archetype in their own direction.
In the mid-1980s Henry Stansbury was the leading collector of Lloyd Tyler's works. It was at this time that this singular hooded merganser made its first impression on Stansbury and the decoy and folk art collecting communities. Stansbury recounts, "In the fall of 1986, Richard Bourne had a superb Tyler hooded merganser for sale in his auction. It was the first Tyler decoy I had seen that threatened to break the 'world record' price I paid for my preening pintail ..." After losing out to multiple competing bidders, he acknowledges, "My Tylers would never be treated the same again." Indeed, less than a decade later Stansbury published his first book, "Lloyd J. Tyler, Folk Artist, Decoy Maker," which features and discusses this carving. History repeated itself on a larger scale in 2007 when the decoy next surfaced, setting a record at auction not only for Tyler, but for any Maryland decoy.
Collectors have long recognized that this decoy captures the charming nature of the species with a high and slightly turned head topped by a thin crest. The body's form and paint show seemingly effortless sweeping lines with detailed plumage and a long thin tail. This decoy represents one of the great examples of Southern Americana and folk art. The underside retains its Bourne auction tag, a Huster collection ink stamp, and the imprint of the Hunter collection tag.
Excellent original paint with light gunning wear.
Provenance: H. Harrison Huster Collection
Charlie Hunter Collection
Private Collection
Literature: Henry H. Stansbury, "Lloyd Tyler: Folk Artist, Decoy Maker," Lewes, DE, 1955, p. 21, exact carving illustrated. Richard A. Bourne, Inc., Rare American Decoys and Bird Carvings, Hyannis, MA, July 1986, lot 781, exact decoy illustrated. Joe Engers, ed., "Year in Review 2007," 2007, front cover, exact decoy illustrated.
Please refer to the description; if you have questions, email colin@copleyart.com.
Shipping info
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