Annual Decoy & Sporting Art Auction by Guyette & Deeter Highlights Works From William Bowman and Shang Wheeler
The upcoming 2021 Annual Decoy & Sporting Art Sale, presented by Guyette & Deeter, will feature vintage collectibles associated with waterfowl hunting. More than 500 lots of hunting and fishing decoys, fine art, and furniture will be available in the two-day sale. Bidding starts at 11:00 AM EDT on August 6th, 2021. The second session begins at 10:00 AM EDT on August 7th, 2021. The annual summer event will take place remotely and feature items from D.C. North, Bruce Williams, Shang Wheeler, Kroghie Andresen, and John & Vicki Forbes. Collectors can participate in the two-day auction virtually through Bidsquare.
One highlight of the upcoming two-day sale is an at rest mallard drake by famous Stratford decoy carver Shang Wheeler (lot #88; estimate: USD 80,000 – $120,000). The featured piece from the 1940s is notable as the only sleeping mallard drake decoy made by Wheeler. Carved in the Stratford style, it also displays the artist’s exquisite painting technique. A combination of paint layering and soft color gradation imparts a natural effect.
A greater yellowlegs decoy is another notable item (lot #371; estimate: $65,000 – $95,000). Decoys of shorebirds like the greater yellowlegs became increasingly rare after hunting restrictions tightened in 1928. Long Island carver William Bowman created the available decoy. Its carved wings and shoe button eyes are notable for their precise and realistic appearance.
Other available decoys include a mallard drake by John Blair and two canvasbacks by Elmer Crowell. Collectors can also explore curved-fin fish decoys by Hans Janner, including a rock bass decoy carved from hardwood (lot #383; estimate: $25,000 – $35,000).
Notable among the available fine art lots is Double Battery Susquehanna Flats by Hermann Gustav Simon. The circa 1883 oil painting depicts a bird hunting scene from Pennsylvania (lot #48; estimate: $75,000 – $95,000). A realist still life painter, Simon also specialized in dog portraits and landscape paintings.
An oil on canvas by Edmund Osthaus portraying a setter and a pointer with a fall background is also offered (lot #64; estimate: $35,000 – $45,000). The vividly colored landscape appears as a three-dimensional image with detailed shadows accenting the morning mist.
Guyette & Deeter’s 2021 Annual Decoy & Sporting Art Sale will present several additional lots:
* Two-count duck call display wheel by Bill Clifford (lot #355; $6,000 – $10,000)
* Large three-masted sailing ship copper weathervane (lot #430; $6,000 – $9,000)
* Leroy L. Leland two-piece shotgun shell box (lot #367; $2,000 – $3,000)
* Painted sailcloth matt sailor’s compass (lot #433; $1,000 – $1,400)
* Late 19th-century bench (lot #505; $300 – $400)
Guyette & Deeter, Inc. is a leading auction house that specializes in decoys and sporting art collectibles. Founded in 1984, the auction house is known for its record-breaking sales of shorebird, fish, and duck decoy collectibles. Guyette & Deeter also offers duck and crow calls, canoes, and other antiques.
The upcoming 2021 Annual Decoy & Sporting Art Sale by Guyette & Deeter will start at 11:00 AM EDT on August 6th, 2021 and 10:00 AM EDT on August 7th, 2021. Interested collectors can explore the full catalogs for both sessions and register to bid on Bidsquare.
