The Sporting Sale 2011
Copley’s Sporting Sale 2011 auctioned off over 650 lots of top-notch sporting art, books, and decoys. The sale brought nearly $2.5 million, setting world records for both paintings and decoys. The top painting in the sale was an oil painting by Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969), Springers and Pheasants. The work set a new world record for the artist with its $85,000 hammer price. Copley saw solid results with the works of Boston Impressionist Frank W. Benson (1862-1951); a pair of his watercolors sold for $109,250. Bronzes also performed well, with Bob Scriver’s (1914-1999) buffalo within its estimates of $4/8,000 at $6,300 and William Koelpin’s (1938-1996) Winnebago Sleigh Ride exceeding its $5/8,000 estimate, bringing over $8,600.
Day two of the sale was Copley’s strongest decoy auction to date with an unprecedented 18 of the top 19 lots selling. Of these, 5 lots went for more than their estimates, 10 lots within, and just 3 sold for under their estimates. Crowell prices were strong, a Lesser Yellowlegs sold for $37,375 ($15/25,000). The cover lot, a Crowell Running Curlew ($60/90,000), rocketed to nearly three times the high estimate with four phone bidders vying to $190,000 before finally hammering for $215,000 and setting a new world record for a decorative shorebird carving (see image to right). Later in the sale, the Outstanding Crowell Wood Duck Drake came within its estimated price range at $115,000 ($100/200,000). The rare Hanging Bobwhite Quail with a terrific provenance then neared its high estimate before settling in at just under $49,000, a new record for any Crowell quail carving ($30/50,000).
Southern decoys showed considerable strength. A bold 1936 Canvasback Drake by the Ward Brothers ($30/50,000) sold above the high estimate for $63,250. Lee Dudley’s (1860-1942) Outstanding Canvasback Drake also sold above the $40/60,000 estimate at $69,000.
Canvas Covered Swimming Old Squaw
Lothrop Holmes (1824-1899)
Kingston, MA, c. 1870
Sold for $218,500
Bobwhite Quail
A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952)
East Harwich, MA, c. 1912
Sold for $48,875
Frank W. Benson
(1862-1951)
Hunter with Decoys, 1926
watercolor on paper, 15 by 20 in.
Outstanding Wood Duck Drake
A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952)
East Harwich, MA, c. 1915
Sold for $115,000