Decoy auction has strong results with Crisfield items faring well

Posted 8/15/22

ST. MICHAELS — Last month’s decoy and sporting art auction here at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum proved to be good a good two days for both buyers and sellers as some 120 collectors …

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Decoy auction has strong results with Crisfield items faring well

Posted

ST. MICHAELS — Last month’s decoy and sporting art auction here at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum proved to be good a good two days for both buyers and sellers as some 120 collectors in person and over 1,000 online or on the phone ran up gross sales totaling $3.32 million.

Seventy-two lots sold for over $10,000 with at least four of them by Crisfield carvers with the top lot a swimming Canada goose by Nathan Cobb Jr. of Cobb Island, Va., selling for $252,000.

Prices were strong throughout the sale, with a 19th century hollow golden plover from Nantucket selling for $75,000, a pintail by Dave “Umbrella” Watson selling for $70,800, a curlew by Eli Doughty selling for $56,400, and a slope breast mallard from the Mason Decoy Factory selling for $48,000.

Decorative decoys sold well too, with a Larry Hayden woodduck selling for a carver record of $42,000. 

The sun was out and spirits were high on both days of the July 29-30 sale hosted by Guyette & Deeter, which is based in St. Michaels. It usually holds its annual summer auction in New England, but owners Jon Deeter and Zac Cote decided to try something new this summer by keeping things local.

“Our company has been based in St. Michaels since 2005, however our November auction in conjunction with the Easton Waterfowl Festival, has been our only local event throughout the year. Talbot County is just a beautiful place to come all year long and Jon and I are excited to start sharing more of it with our clients from across the country,” explained Mr. Cote.

Of special interest to collectors of decoys from Crisfield, there was a greenwing teal hen which sold for $33,000 which was the high watermark for a Ward Brother bird. A canvasback drake by the late Lem and Steve Ward sold for $31,200 and a pair of black ducks they produced went over its estimate and sold for $20,400.

Also selling strongly was a mute swan carved by living legend Oliver “Tuts” Lawson of Crisfield for $15,600.

But it wasn’t just decoys and duck carvings that were highlights of the sale. Guyette & Deeter continue to get high prices for sporting art, with an Edmund Osthaus oil on canvas selling for $69,600 and an Aiden Lassell Ripley watercolor going for $45,000. Folk art was well represented in the sale. Three 19th century cigar store Indian carvings from the Mark Goldman collection sold at their mid-estimates of $84,000, $39,000, and $27,000, as well as an 80” tall folk art whimsey tower featured in the 1893 World’s Fair selling for $33,000.

"For a first time auction at a new venue, our team handled this sale perfectly. The auction not only went off without a hitch but was big success. We’ll have to do it again," said Mr. Deeter.

Guyette & Deeter’s next auction will be held Nov. 9-10 at the Talbot County Community Center in conjunction with the Easton Waterfowl Festival. The sale will have a live audience and will be accompanied by a 50-table dealer show. Quality consignments are being accepted until Sept. 15. Call Jon Deeter at 440-610-1768 or Zac Cote at 207-321-8091 to consign to this sale. 

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