Charles “Shang” Wheeler 1872 - 1949 Stratford, Connecticut
In 1923, Shang Wheeler, for the first time, entered the amateur category of the Bellport, Long Island decoy carving contest, and he won first place. One of the show organizers was Joel Barber, the first great collector, author, and historian of decoys. Barber was also a gifted carver and painter. Barber commented, on Wheeler’s winning mallard, “it represents the highest development yet reached in the American art of decoy carving. This Bellport show was not the last time Wheeler took the top prize. He went on to win the amateur category for the next twelve consecutive years, carving almost every species of waterfowl seen along the Atlantic coast. Throughout the 1940s, Wheeler would exhibit his decoys at the National Sportsman’s Show in New York. After his death in 1949, this exhibit became part of the permanent collection of decoys at the Audubon Society’s Birdcraft Museum in Fairfield, Connecticut. This exact brant can be seen in the photograph of Wheelers display taken in 1949, and it eventually became property of the Audubon Museum until it was purchased by a Midwest decoy collector in the early 1980s.
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424 Detail
424 Detail
424. Very rare cedar brant, Shang Wheeler, Stratford, Connecticut. One of only two known to exist. Relief wing carving, detailed mandible carving, and tear drop weight. Good feather paint detail. Original paint with very minor wear; several tiny dents.
Literature: “Shang,” Dixon Merkt.
(10,000 - 14,000)
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