The Winter Sale 2017
Copley's Winter Sale 2017 was a great success. The auction rang in over $1.3 million. Sold lots achieved 91% of their high estimate, and once again the sale was 90% sold by lot. All five cover lots saw very competitive bidding with two landing within estimate and three climbing over their estimates.
The top decoy lot was the Herrick-Ward Yellowlegs, which sold for $90,000. The McCleery Golden Plover by Charles Sumner Bunn or Bill Bowman brought $69,000, and the Swan by Charles Birch sold for $60,000. The top painting lot was Edmund Osthaus' oil Pointer and Quail, which sold for $63,000, followed by Osthaus' On Point, which brought $44,400 (see image to right).
The sale featured items from the collections of Richard and Lynn Gove, the Estate of Joyce and Larry Huffman, Ernest and Carolyn Kramer, Blair Ledingham, Grant Nelson, Shane Newell, John Ordeman, William H. Purnell Jr., and William B. Webster III.
The Herrick-Ward Yellowlegs
One of the finest Bunn/Bowman decoys held in private hands
Sold for $90,000
The McCleery Bunn/Bowman Golden Plover
c. 1900
Sold for $69,000
Charles Birch
(1867-1956)
Swan, c. 1920
Sold for $60,000
Edmund H. Osthaus
(1858-1928)
Pointer and Quail, 1892
oil on canvas
Sold for $63,000