2022 Year in Review

Embracing The Sporting Life

On behalf of the entire Copley team, I would like to take a moment to thank you for not only being a part of a successful 2022, but a part of Copley’s seventeen-year journey, and counting! We at Copley recognize that without the support from our sellers, buyers, partners, friends, and families, we would not be where we are today. As the world’s leading seller of Sporting Art and Decoys, we take great pride in our diligent approach. Our ethos and focus has never wavered—offering quality objects in a simple and down-to-earth fashion that befits the Sporting Art tradition. 

2022 saw Copley’s auction sales total $6.5 million. The Winter Sale tallied $3.4 million, making it the second highest Winter offering in the company's history. The Sporting Sale followed in July with a tally of $3.1 million. The company's 1,231 total lots averaged an industry-leading 95% sell-through rate. Since our inception, Copley has posted over $80 million in sales, making it one of the fastest growing and most trusted auction firms in the country. We love Sporting Art and we love decoys; shedding proper light on each individual object is what we do.

Before I delve into our year in review, I want to alert you to some of the exciting happenings slated for the new year.

Horizon 2023

So what lies ahead on the Copley horizon in 2023? A lot. The Winter Sale 2023 is shaping up to be a blockbuster with several important single-owner collections set to hit the market, including the Richard and Dorothy Wheeler Collection of Pacific Coast Bird Carvings, the Stephen B. O'Brien Sr. Collection of Nantucket Decoys, the second session of the Michael Boxer Collection of American Bird Carvings, the Harry and Judy Bextel Collection, and wildlife art from the Estate of Ann Dickinson Dale. The sale will also include selections from the Donald Kirson Collection, the Ted and Judy Harmon Collection, the Kangas Collection of International Folk Art and Decoys, and a number of other private collections. 

Social Engagement

In the new year we will be hitting the road, conducting private previews, and attending decoy club events and shows. On the exhibition front, we will present “Coast to Coast: The Pacific Decoy Collection of Richard and Dorothy Wheeler” at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition taking place Feb 17–19, 2023. There is no event in the world like SEWE, as 40,000 plus wildlife and sporting enthusiasts descend on Charleston, South Carolina, for this three-day event. Additionally, we will present a featured preview of the Winter Sale 2023. If you can’t find something to excite you at SEWE, check your pulse! 

A record number of clients took advantage of Copley’s expanded preview schedule last year, with no event more festive than the Copley Cocktail Preview Party at the North American Decoy Collectors Association show at the Westin Lombard in April. Over 150 clients attended the event which packed the preview room and spilled out into the lobby. We will once again be hosting this popular event on Thursday, April 27th from 5–7pm. Check our website https://www.copleyart.com/upcoming-events for more details on upcoming previews.

Innovating Leaders

Copley continues to be an innovative leader in the field. In addition to pioneering CopleyLive, the field’s first app, in 2016, our Sporting Art database is the most accurate in the world. With over 15,000 searchable past auction results, Copley delivers real market data to collectors so they can make educated buying and selling decisions. 

Roughly a year ago we started two new social media outreach initiatives. Object of the Week drops every Monday on our social media outlets: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Every Thursday Blasts from the Past highlights an object from a previous Copley auction. Interspersed are lifestyle posts that celebrate Copley employees and partners pursuing the Sporting Life. These diverse posts, broadcast across the three social media outlets, continue to attract an ever-widening audience. If you would like to tune in to our posts, click on the social media links above or at the bottom of this email.

A regular contributor on the popular Ducks Unlimited Podcast, Copley's veteran decoy specialist, Colin S. McNair, recently made his fourth appearance on the show hosted by Head Curator Katie Burke. Listen to Episode 440 "Decoy Auction Market Update" on your podcast app of choice or click here to listen on the DU website. 

The recipe for our recent auction successes have been pretty straight forward; single-owner collections, conservative estimates, and the right mix of unestimated lots are the secret sauce. Our clients know that they can pick up the phone or email us to inquire about any lot in our auctions. We have a deep pool of sophisticated buyers with more tools at their fingertips than ever before. Whether it’s a FaceTime call allowing them to view the object from all angles, getting in front of a painting at a show, requesting that we bring a decoy to their home or office, studying our well-researched printed catalogs, or seeing all 600 lots here at our gallery, we invite open dialogues with our bidders prior to auctions so our clients can make educated buying decisions.

A Deeper Bench 

Our original team of three in 2005 has steadily grown to a dedicated group of ten. Many of you know that Colin McNair here in Massachusetts, Jim Allen in New Jersey, and Leah Tharpe in Colorado are top specialists in their respective fields. However, our behind-the-scenes team of lead director Cinnie O’Brien, designer and photographer Eileen Steward, media director and editor Chelsie Olney, Mid-Atlantic client relations director Debbie Allen, and communications director Michelle Dwyer make everything run smoothly. Without this talented crew, Copley simply would not be able to deliver the level of service you have come to expect.

Jim and Debbie Allen have been an impactful addition to the Copley decoy team. I worked with Jim thirty years ago when I first started at Oliver’s. The Allen’s presence in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond gives us a broader reach. You couldn't ask for two more devoted ambassadors to the decoy field. Jim is a wealth of knowledge and Deb brings polished organizational and marketing skills to our team.

Market Share

When Copley first started in 2005, we had zero percent of the Decoy auction market. By 2014 this number had climbed to 20 percent. Over the past five years, Copley’s gross market share has routinely hit 40 percent, all the while selling thousands fewer decoys than our closest competitor. 

Highly specialized, for the last decade Copley has dominated the high-end collectable decoy market, having maintained the highest average price per decoy lot nine out of the last ten years. In any given year, we will turn down far more objects than we accept. That said, if an object isn’t right for one of our auctions, we happily refer the client to the best avenue for selling. With three decades in the Fine Art and Antiques world, our team has developed a vast network of contacts, reaching most corners of the art universe, and our referrals deliver our clients great peace of mind.

In looking at the numbers, our successes at the top of the market are telling. In 2021 Copley claimed seven of the top ten decoy lots at auction, and in 2022 that number climbed to nine of the top ten. 

Quality, Quality, Quality

We are focused on quality Decoys and Sporting Art. Sometimes people think we only want six-figure consignments. The truth is that we seek out quality works from $100 to $1,000,000, whether they are Wildfowlers or Crowells, Frank Benson etchings or Benson oils.

Why No Estimates?

Unestimated lots are once again proving to be wildly popular with both sellers and bidders. In our last auction, two-thirds of the items carried no estimate. A Maine eider hen garnered $32,400, and a Floyd Scholz (b. 1958) barn owl reached $22,000. In our upcoming Winter Sale, 416 of the 657 lots are unestimated.

Year In Review

Our top decoy lot for the year was a Nantucket curlew, which set a record for any Nantucket decoy at $228,000, doubling the previous record. Our top waterfowl decoy was a Wood Duck Pair by Charles “Shang” Wheeler (1867–1956), originally from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. The dynamic duo set a new record for any lot by the maker landing at $216,000, above their $100/200,000 estimate. These sales added to the major regional decoy and category records set by our firm which now include Canada, New Hampshire, Nantucket, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware River, Upper Chesapeake Bay, Lower Chesapeake Bay, Illinois River, Pacific Coast, any unknown maker, any contemporary maker, and any miniature.

Wild Wood Ducks

While Copley consistently makes headlines with wooden ducks, 2022 was definitely the year of the wood duck as a decoy species. Just like tracking wild wood ducks in flight, one can also track the movement of their wooden counterparts. Presenting decoys in a properly researched context is paramount at Copley. The aforementioned Shang Wheeler pair, which sold in 2018 for $62,500 with another firm, reached a record-setting $216,000 with Copley in 2022.

Likewise, a rare Joseph Lincoln wood duck that had been acquired off a weekly online auction for $6,776, reached $20,400 with Copley just a few months later. Yet another wood duck from the same weekly online sale, a Sterling, which hammered down for $13,000, almost doubled its previous result, realizing $25,200 with Copley. The result of the Hunter-Doherty Wood Duck Hen perhaps best demonstrates the importance of proper cataloging and research. Though the decoy had set a world-record price for a John Blair Sr. decoy in 1989, in 2022 it spiraled downward with a rival firm, hammering down for just $3,000. Presented with proper provenance and  context, the hen made $33,000 on its $18/24,000 estimate with Copley. Revealing the breadth of the market, each of these wood ducks went to different buyers. 

A Dodge Factory (1883–1893) drake more than doubled its low estimate of $50,000, climbing to $108,000, besting the previous record for any Dodge decoy by over $50,000. Lastly on the wood duck front, though small in scale, A. J. King's miniature family estimated at $5/8,000 reached $14,400. 

Mighty Miniatures

And speaking of miniatures, diminutive carvings have been on the move. Along with contemporary carvings, we have continued to see growth in this sector. New buyers are finding these fun and expanding fields. The older I get, the more I understand the reasoning behind collecting miniatures. When I first started in my early twenties, I just didn’t get them. I was a hunter, and I wanted life-sized birds that looked like the decoys I hunted over. Collectors like John Delph and Howard Wadell would bring minis to shows and my eyes would glaze over; I barely acknowledged them. Today, they make all the sense in the world to me. They are the ultimate play when it comes to downsizing, not to mention the fact that you can always make room for one more.

In 2022 Copley offered a rare belted kingfisher pair by A. J. King (1878–1963) which landed at $33,825 on a $7/10,000 estimate, not only a record for the maker, but believed to be a new world record for any miniature bird carving. The previous world record for King had been $22,140 for a dove pair with chicks, set at Copley’s Sporting Sale 2021. The artist’s carvings turned heads throughout the year with a pair of screech owls soaring to $20,400 beyond their $6/9,000 estimate, a bald eagle landing at $18,000, and a pintail family commanding $19,200.

Other world record prices for miniature carvings included a ruffed grouse by Robert Morse (1920–1960), which raced to $4,200 passing its $2/3,000 estimate, and a pair of unestimated miniature great blue herons by Wendell Gilley (1904–1983), which topped out at $10,200. Carvings by George Boyd were in high demand with a rare dovekie achieving $13,200 and a duo of ruddy ducks landing at $7,200. Our top Joseph Lincoln miniature lot was a hooded merganser pair which paddled their way to $4,500.

Contemporary — Anything But Temporary

The contemporary decoy market has been on the move for quite some time, but seems to be gaining even more traction. Just as the Ward Brothers saw their carvings become more and more collectable as they aged, so too are some of our favorite Mid-Atlantic masters like “Tuts” Lawson, Mark McNair, Frank Finney, and Cameron McIntyre. 

Finney's Folk Art Bird Tree flew past its $6/9,000 estimate to $33,825, believed to be a new world record for the maker. This edged close to breaking a contemporary highwater mark, the golden plover rig by Mark McNair sold by Copley in 2009 for $37,375. This year a single Canada goose by McNair ran to $7,800 and Cameron McIntyre’s pintail drake also hit the same level.

Hot As Ever 

Our top offerings by Elmer Crowell (1862–1952) this year saw active bidding across the board. A Raised-Wing Canvasback Pair landed at $102,000 on a $50/80,000 estimate. A woodcock out of the du Pont collection sold for $72,000. The maker’s Golden Plover in Winter Plumage more than doubled the high estimate of $24,000 bringing $60,000, and the Payson Crowell Preening Dowitcher surpassed its $30,000 high estimate on its way to a $55,350 sale price. Crowell minis remained strong with a set of twenty-two shorebirds shooting above estimate to $90,000. Individual minis also found solid footing with a swimming Canada goose and golden pheasant both surpassing their $5/8,000 estimates to reach $13,200 each.

Alighting ACK 

In addition to the world-record setting Folger family curlew mentioned above, Nantucket decoys continue to migrate in an upward trend. Birds from the Lew Horton Collection saw a golden plover fly past its $65/85,000 estimate to land at $108,000, a pair of Nantucket wind bird willets bested their $14,000 high estimate to reach $15,600, and a Captain Wyer plover pair achieved $12,000, outstripping its $5/8,000 estimate and establishing a new record for this well-documented Nantucket shorebird hunting guide and carver. 

Recent Discoveries 

A newly discovered Charles Sumner Bunn Curlew achieved $72,000, and a Sleeping Canada Goose by Charles A. Safford (1877–1957) in working paint, only the second of the form to ever surface, made $96,000. A recent find of a hollow swimming North Shore merganser, rivaling the works of Osgood and Fabens, will be sure to excite collectors in 2023. 

Maine Line 

While the Maine decoy market has been languishing a bit recently, several distinct Downeast carvings perked up this important sector of the folk art market. An eider hen by an unknown Maine carver brought $32,400, a rare feeding merganser drake carved by Maine carving legend Augustus “Gus” Aaron Wilson (1864–1950) surpassed its $18,000 high estimate when it landed at $21,600, and a merganser pair by Willie Ross (1878–1954) of Chebeague Island, swam past their $12,000 high estimate on their way to $20,400.

New Jersey Gems

The elegant ship-like designs of New Jersey master carvers Harry V. Shourds (1861–1920) and Nathan Rowley Horner (1882–1942) captured the attention of buyers with the Shourds Parrish Rig Canada goose realizing $54,000 and a Horner Canada goose achieving $33,000 on a $15/25,000 estimate. 

Southern Beauty

Copley continued its success with top Lee Dudley (1860–1942) carvings, with the Mackey-O'Brien Canvasback landing at $60,000. A drake Ward Brothers mallard shot above its $24,000 high estimate, hitting $36,000, and a brant by Charles Birch (1867–1956) surpassed its $9,000 high estimate to land at $13,200.

Midwest Stars

Midwest carvings once again performed well. The Trinosky Family Kankakee Pintail Hen from the Herman R. Trinosky (1874–1956) Rig landed at $84,000, within its $75/95,000 estimate, and the High-Head Canvasback Drake by Joseph Sieger (1871–1959), previously out of the McCleery Collection, achieved its high estimate of $30,000. A Mason Green-Winged Teal shot above its high estimate of $20,000 to reach $26,400.

California Gold

West Coast decoys showed continued strength with a pintail pair by Sonoma, California, carver Richard "Fresh Air Dick" Janson (1872–1951) selling for $16,800 on a $2,5/3,500 estimate. The introduction of the Richard and Dorothy Wheeler Collection of Pacific Coast Bird Carvings to the market will certainly be a strong indicator of what lies ahead for West Coast birds in 2023.