A great choice of wooden ducks

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

During a routine reading of new sales announced by Artnet, I found that the most expensive lots in a sale organized on July 23 in Boston by Copley Fine Art Auctions were decoys, significantly ahead of the best submitted paintings.

At the top: a pair of geese by John Tax (100 K$, lot 338, 1917), one single white goose of same artist and same date (80 K$, lot 339), a duck and a plover made by one of the artists already indicated in my previous article, Elmer Crowell (80 K$, lot 369, 1912; 80 K$, lot 282, 1910). We see here that the years 1910s are topping the hierarchy of artistic wooden ducks, as it is the case in major arts.

Yes, but then, doubting of my ability to find the results after the sale, I was close to decide in my shyness that I shall not tell you about it. Fortunately, I am stubborn. With the help of LiveAuctioneers (free site after registration), I found another sale of decoys, 21 and 22 July at Cape Cod, at Decoys Unlimited. Cape Cod is a nice resort in Massachusetts, therefore, not very far, at decoy's flight (!!!), from Boston.

And then, luck, I found online a detailed catalogue where I could begin to understand how these small-size sculptures are eligible to compete with other works of art.

Lot 232 is a willet showing modernist shapes which make me compare it with works by French sculptor Pompon. It is attributed to John Thomas Wilson and estimated 75 K$.

Lot 522, also at 75 K$, is interesting as an early piece, 1875, and for its attribution to some Albert Orne.

Even more interesting for our study: Lot 99A, another plover by Elmer Crowell, estimated 45 K$, distinguishes itself, according to the catalogue, by the fineness of its sculpture and its decorative effect. Dated around 1910, it comes early in the work of the artist, and it is signed. I did not find its dimensions, but it is undoubtedly its small size which prevents it to expect a much higher price.

I have now no doubt that the decoys are art like any other piece of art, even if the estimates may seem quite different when comparing the two sales of my tracking of today.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Both sales were dominated by a piece that buyers have considered as exceptional.

Copley got $ 210 K including fees for the duck of Crowell, and Decoys $ 200 K, presumably before fees, for the willet of Wilson.

The authorship, even that of Crowell, is not a sufficient argument for the plovers to be sold at a price of ducks. Copley sold its specimen for $ 70 K including fees, and that of Decoys was painfully sold $ 40 K, probably excluding fees.

The early decoy by Orne was sold $ 70 K, probably before fees, by Decoys, and the two lots of John Tax respectively $ 105 K (Lot 338) and $ 85 K (Lot 339), including fees, by Copley.

Let us achieve this walk in the land of wooden birds with another willet by Wilson, sold $ 120 K by Decoys on an estimate of 50 K $.