Antique duck, goose, and shorebird decoys have been collected for nearly 100 years and auctions specific to this art form have been taking place since the early 1970’s. Once used by hunters to lure in their migrating live counterparts, the carved wooden birds have become one of America’s most sought-after collectible artforms. The world record price paid for any decoy had gone from $10,500 in 1972 to $205,000 by 1986. In 2007, the St. Michaels, Maryland based auction company, Guyette and Deeter established the highwater mark of $856,000 at a joint auction with Christies in New York City. That record remained until recently when Guyette and Deeter held their annual April 23 & 24 auction in Lombard, Illinois.
The auction featured the first session of legendary Minneapolis, Minnesota collectors Jim and Diane Cook. The Cooks collection, built over the last 45 years, includes some of the rarest and highest condition collectible decoys from around the country. For serious decoy collectors, this auction was like the Super Bowl, World Series, and Kentucky Derby, rolled into one.
The first lot in the auction was an important wood duck by Joseph Lincoln of Accord, Massachusetts. Made around 1915 and once owned by early collector and author, Dr. George Ross Starr, the decoy was considered by many to be the centerpiece of the Cook collection. After a long round of bidding, a new world record price of $1,260,000 had been achieved. The applause and excitement in the room continued when lot 2, a unique wigeon in preening pose by Elmer Crowell of East Harwich, Massachusetts sold for $1,140,000, a new world record for the maker. In all, 28 world records for decoy makers were established and the two-day auction totaled just shy of $10,000,000 with 15 items topping $100,000 and 132 items selling for $10,000 or more.
Session II of the Cook collection will be featured in Guyette and Deeter’s next Decoy and Sporting Art Auction on July 23 & 24 at the Country School in Easton, Maryland.
Established in 1984, Guyette and Deeter has set the world record for many sporting collectible genres including decoys, shot shell boxes, duck calls, fish spearing decoys, and many models of fine collectible shotguns. They offer free appraisals by emailing photos to principals Jon Deeter – jdeeter@guyetteanddeeter.com or Zac Cote – zcote@guyetteanddeeter.com. To order the July auction catalog, contact their office in St. Michaels at 410-745-0485.
