Spotlight | Copley Fine Art Auctions

AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS

It has been exceptionally rewarding to watch the development and growth of Copley over the last eight years. I am proud of what our specialists and staff have accomplished in such a short period of time. From 2008 to 2012 we have doubled our annual sales, which was no small feat given the strong economic head winds throughout much of this period. Over the course of the last eight years, Copley has set over twenty world records for paintings, prints, and bronzes, and has hauled in the top decoy lot at auction three of the last four years. I look forward to Copley’s continued success and to what the coming years will bring.

Stephen B. O’Brien Jr. President of Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC

$6.4 $ 6 million

$ 5 million

$4.2

$4.2

2009

2010

$ 4 million

$4.1

$3.2

$ 3 million $2.6 $2.3 $ 2 million

$ 1 million

0

2006

2007

2008

2011

2012

Copley Annual Sales Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert (1865-1926) Roused, A Tiger and Tigress, 1912 sold $333,500 <

Printed in the USA on recycled paper by Spire, Boston, MA PHOTOGRAPHY David Allen DESIGN Molly Quill ©2013

Meet Our Team

Aimee Stashak-Moore Auction Coordinator info@copleyart.com Stephen B. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Jr.

President Head Fine Art and Decoy Specialist sobrien@copleyart.com

Decoy Specialist colin@copleyart.com

Colin McNair Financial Controller cinnie@copleyart.com

Cinnie Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien

Colin McNair

Fine Art Specialist fineart@copleyart.com Kathryn Robinson

Decoy Consultant decoy@copleyart.com Jim Parker

A. Elmer Crowell patron Harry V. Long begins collecting decoys

A. Elmer Crowell pintail Purchased Sold

by Steve O’Brien Jr. for then auction record $801,500

The first decoy to break the $10,000 mark sells at Bourne’s Mackey Collection sale

privately by Steve O’Brien Jr. for a world record $1.13M

A chip off the old block, Copley Decoy Specialist, Colin McNair, sells his first decoy at age 6

1915

1933 1934

1970

1992

1973

2003

2000

Copley President Steve O’Brien Jr., age 2, speaks his first word “Duck!”

Donal C. O’Brien Jr. collects first decoy, cutting it out of his grandfather’s rig at age 10

Joel Barber authors first major publication on decoys

A. Elmer Crowell goose Purchased Sold

by Steve O’Brien Jr. for then auction record $684,500

privately by Steve O’Brien Jr. for a world record $1.13M

Steve O’Brien Jr. co-authors and publishes Masterworks of the Illinois River

Copley sells 6 decoys from the Harry V. Long Collection for $1.8M

Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC is founded in Boston, MA

Copley adds 2nd auction to its lineup The Winter Sale

Copley sells your collection at auction.

Call 617.536.0030 or email info@copleyart.com with your potential consignment.

The Shelburne Museum purchases two Mark McNair swans from Copley for $10,925 and $16,100, the latter a world record for a contemporary decoy

2005

2006

2007

2009

2011

2012

Aimee Stashak-Moore enlists as Copley’s “5 star general” Auction Coordinator Steve O’Brien Jr. co-authors and publishes The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley

Copley’s inaugural Sporting Sale starts out strong, selling a Frank W. Benson oil painting for $747,500

Steve O’Brien Jr. brokers the largest known private decoy transaction in history selling a collection of 31 decoys for $7.5M

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art puts decoys on display in newly opened Americana wing in 2012

western • wildlife • ca • southern • landscape boston impressionist • • marine • decoys • w • fishing • ethnographic j• books • photography miniatures • prints • pa ngravings • folk • bron decorative carvings • Ansel Adams (1902-1984) Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942 sold $54,625

anine Estate and Collection • Services • work cs ... y ap ... nze • wat Copley Fine Art Auctions offers a comprehensive range

of auction, private sale, and appraisal services for our clients. Our team of professionals has decades of experience in the fields of American antiques, folk art, fine art, and decoys. We work with law firms, trust and estate professionals, museums, executors, heirs, and private clients assisting with the valuation and sale of single items and entire collections.

Copley offers free and confidential auction evaluations, and will be able to advise you on how to achieve the highest prices for your valuable objects. Our specialists will assist you in every step, from the initial valuation of your item or collection through to the conclusion of sale. If for some reason an item or collection falls outside the parameters of a Copley sale, our vast network of contacts ensures that our clients will be given the appropriate referral.

Copley has extensive experience preparing formal USPAP compliant appraisals for insurance, estate, charitable donation, trust and probate, and equitable distribution. Depending on the location of the items, we offer our clients a complimentary initial walk-through service to determine the extent of the project.

World Records

Edmund H. Osthaus (1858-1928) Pointer with Quail, 1890 sold $230,500 < Ogden M. Pleissner (1905-1983) The Rapids, 1938 sold $345,000 >

Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969) Point in the Corn sold $89,130 for watercolor <

Lynn Bogue Hunt (1878-1960) Blue Fin Tuna sold $126,500 > Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927) Wild Turkey, 1924 sold $86,250 <

world record

American

World Records

Paintings >

Philip R. Goodwin (1882-1935) October Hunting, 1911 sold $161,000 Frank W. Benson (1862-1951) Salmon Fishing, 1927 sold $747,500 > Edmund C. Tarbell (1862-1938) An Opal: Study of Yellow and White Light sold $120,750 <

Red-Breasted Merganser Hen Captain Samuel A. Fabens (1814-1899) rig sold $184,000

Decoys

Canvas Covered Old Squaw Lothrop Holmes (1824-1899) for canvas sold $218,500 decoy

Canada Geese Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920) and Harry M. Shourds (1890-1943) sold $201,250

Preening Pintail A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $546,250 Preening Eider Augustus A. Wilson (1864-1950) sold $172,500 for species

Canvasback Pair John “Daddy” Holly (1818-1892) or James T. Holly (1855-1935) sold $155,250

With an emphasis on quality, Copley is leading the decoy market, selling a remarkable 10 of the top 12 decoy lots at auction since 2009

Broadbill The Ward Brothers sold $51,750

Canvasback The Ward Brothers sold $63,250

Pintail Ira D. Hudson (1876-1949) sold $28,750

Black-Bellied Plover A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $60,375 Robin Snipe, Curlew, Yellowlegs Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920) sold $17,250, $26,450, $16,100

Pintail John Tornberg (1902-1971) sold $26,450

Bobwhite Quail A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $46,000 Roland H. Clark (1874-1957) Dawn sold $37,375

Mallard Pair Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $48,875

Red-Breasted Merganser L. Rhodes Truex (1860-1934) sold $37,375

Wood Duck Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $31,050

Yellowlegs George Boyd (1873-1941) sold $18,975

Ruffed Grouse The Ward Brothers sold $40,250

Pintail Hen H.R. Trinosky (1874-1956) rig sold $63,250

Curlew Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $37,375

Bluebill Ira D. Hudson (1876-1949) sold $48,875

Pintail Pair G. Bert Graves (1880-1956) sold $28,750

Golden Plover Rig Mark McNair (b. 1950) sold $37,375 for contemporary decoy lot

Golden Plover Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $18,400

Flying Bufflehead Pair (drake shown) Chauncey Wheeler (1888-1945) sold $48,875

Miniature Green-Winged Teal Joseph W. Lincoln (1859-1938) sold $7,475

Merganser Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $37,950

Black Duck A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $218,500

Canada Goose John Tax (1894-1967) sold $115,000

Ogden M. Pleissner (1905-1983) Early Morning sold $71,875 detail

Complete Set of Twenty-Five Miniature Waterfowl A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $92,000

Robin Snipe Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $20,700

Sperm Whale Clark Voorhees (1911-1980) sold $11,500

Carved Eagle John Haley Bellamy (1836-1914) sold $21,850

Americana

The American Sporting Dog Plates designed by Marguerite Kirmse (1885-1954) sold $7,475

Bear James W. Marshall (1811-1885) sold $27,600

Double Saddle Blanket sold $10,350

> Harry H. Wickey (1892-1968) Baseball Player sold $8,850 Southern Cane sold $6,037 <

Salesmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sample Canoe Penobscot Canoe Co. (attr.) sold $17,250

Fly Reel Edward Vom Hofe (1846-1920) sold $2,645

Fishing

Atlantic Salmon John Tully (1862-1931) sold $12,650

Two-Piece Trout Rod Everett Garrison (1893-1975) sold $6,325

Bronzes

William J. Koelpin (1938-1996) Bear Country, 1994 sold $20,700 William J Koelpin (1938-1996) Storm Warning, 1990 sold $20,700 James E. Fraser (1876-1953) Buffalo, 1968 sold $17,250 Charles Schreyvogel (1861-1912) The Last Drop, 1903 sold $109,250 for bronze <

American Prints

Currier and Ives (1857-1907) The Life of a Hunter- A Tight Fix sold $40,250 detail

>

Arthur Burdett Frost (1851-1928) Shooting Pictures, set of twelve, 1895 sold $63,250

after John James Audubon (1785-1851) Snowy Heron or White Egret sold $41,400 > Frank W. Benson (1862-1951) The Gunner, 1915 for a print sold $21,850 <

Carl Rungius (1869-1959) Copley is a world leader in the sale of works by Carl Rungius, having sold 15 of the 15 paintings we have offered at auction, all within or above estimate.

detail

Home of the Big Horn sold $97,750

detail

Bull Moose sold $373,750 detail

Wapiti sold $195,500

detail

Near Summit Lake, British Columbia sold $316,250

detail

Humpback Grizzly sold $460,000

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