Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC, Pembroke, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC
Copley Fine Art Auctions’ two-day online-only auction February 21 and 22 brought in over $3 million, was over 95% sold by lot, and achieved new record prices. The auction house, based in Pembroke, Massachusetts, and entering its third decade, offered compelling objects from an array of collections.
First up on day one were 32 lots from Alex Chester’s collection of works by Aiden Lassell Ripley. When he retired, Chester made it his goal to gather a full collection of Ripley’s etchings and then expanded his goal to include the full range of the artist’s work. He has also written extensively on the work of Ripley.
Alex Chester’s collection of 32 works by Aiden Lassell Ripley (1869-1969) opened the sale. The collection was 100% sold and easily beat its high estimates. The high lot was Ripley’s Getting Ready, 1940, watercolor, 19¾" x 29¾", a depiction of a southern quail hunt. It was accompanied by Ripley’s field sketch for the work, 6" x 9¾", pencil on paper, and the two sold for $84,000 (est. $40,000/60,000). The painting and sketch were probably in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Havemeyer Webb of Shelburne, Vermont. They descended to Kate Webb Harris of Shelburne and then went to the Alex Chester collection. Last summer, in July 2024, Copley sold 42 paintings and etchings from Chester’s collection.
The Chester collection was 100% sold and easily beat its high estimates. The high lot was Ripley’s Getting Ready, 1940, a 19¾" x 29¾" watercolor depiction of a southern quail hunt. It was accompanied by his Getting Ready field sketch, 6" x 9¾", pencil on paper, and the two together sold for $84,000 (including buyer’s premium).
Ernest Hemingway, a major author and a major sportsman, fished often in Florida and Cuba. His unique Bimini King rod was made for him by Frank O’Brien of Tycoon Tackle of Miami, which was established in 1935. The Bimini King rod, 83¼" long, was for big game; Hemingway set a world record in 1938 when he landed seven marlin in one day. The rod came to auction with an estimate of $10,000/20,000 and sold for $57,000. It was accompanied by a letter from Tim O’Brien, son of Frank, which stated that the rod had not been modified or tampered with in any way. It was acquired in 1997 by a collector from Bob Kleiser’s Sports Shop in West Palm Beach, Florida, established in 1929 by Bob Kleiser, a friend of Hemingway.
A fishing rod—but not just any fishing rod—attracted significant attention. Ernest Hemingway’s unique Bimini King rod was made for him by Frank O’Brien of Tycoon Tackle, Miami, Florida, which was established in 1935, and had been purchased by a collector in 1997 at Kleiser’s Sport Shop in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 83¼" long Bimini King rod was made for big game. The rod came to auction with an estimate of $10,000/20,000 and sold for $57,000.
Two bobwhite quail lots by Anthony Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold separately and went to the same bidder. Each bird is illustrated in Elmer Crowell: Father of American Bird Carving by Stephen B. O’Brien Jr. and Chelsie W. Olney. Estimated at $20,000/30,000, this carving of a plump upright life-size bobwhite quail, 8¼" tall, sold for $72,000. A notation on the underside reads “- Bobwhite - / ? / One of 4 birds ordered in 1929 by Mark Hopkins, then / of Dover, Mass. Made by Mr. Crowell in 1932- ’33. / Original cost - $7.50 / G Hopkins.” Gigi Hopkins is an author, a Crowell expert, a restorer, a carver, and a decoy curator; Mark Hopkins was her father. From Gigi Hopkins, the bird entered the Charles Hunter collection and then went to a collector who consigned it to the Copley auction.
Two bobwhite quail lots by Anthony Elmer Crowell sold separately but went to the same bidder. A carving of a plump upright life-size bobwhite quail, 8¼" tall, sold for $72,000 (est. $20,000/30,000). A life-size feeding bobwhite quail, circa 1930, in a rare pose, exhibited Crowell’s best plumage, incised tail feathers, and two-tone glass eyes and retained Crowell’s stamp on the bottom. It sold for $66,000 (est. $20,000/30,000).
While Elmer Crowell preferred to carve and paint from live birds, many native species, including the quail, had begun to decline on Cape Cod in the early part of the 20th century. His life-size feeding bobwhite quail, circa 1930, a rare pose, exhibits Crowell’s best plumage, incised tail feathers, and two-tone glass eyes and retains Crowell’s stamp on the bottom. Crowell was known to find inspiration from his carving and painting predecessors. This bird sold for $66,000 (est. $20,000/30,000) to the same buyer who bought the upright quail.
Copley Fine Art Auctions has two major sales during the year, but its staff also attends sporting shows, conducts previews, and collects consignments year round. The company also offers periodic online auctions.
For more information, visit the website (www.copleyart.com) or call (617) 536-0030.
Louisiana-born artist Percival Leonard Rosseau (1859-1937) enjoyed an early career as a cowboy and lumberjack before heading off to Paris to study at the Académie Julian. Not having held a paintbrush until he was 35, he won a prize in 1900 from the Salon de Paris for a nude. In 1904 he began painting animals and had great commercial success. Over the Fence and a Point, oil on canvas, 26" x 32", depicts two English setters in the field and is signed and dated “1919.” The setter in the foreground is on point, while his brace mate honors the point by freezing. Estimated at $30,000/50,000 the painting sold for $105,000. Fresh to the market, the picture had descended in the Minneapolis family of George P. Douglas (1865-1951).
This Mark S. McNair carved sperm whale, 50¾" long, matches his largest whale carvings and has an intricate eye, carved bone teeth, a raised pectoral flipper, and separated flukes. Incised on the back and meant to hang on a wall, it was estimated at $8000/12,000 and sold for $24,000.
The hollow preening great blue heron, circa 2010, by Mark S. McNair (b. 1950) of Craddockville, Virginia, earned a world record auction price of $38,400 (est. $5000/8000). The 57¼" x 35" life-size heron retains the original paint and has a long root head with a removable mortise-and-tenon joint that slides into the body; the tenon is incised “McNair.”
This life-size heron by Mark S. McNair, 55¼" x 38", made around 2010, has a root head with a removable mortise-and-tenon joint and is incised “M.S. McNair” on the tenon. It was estimated at $5000/8000 and sold for $15,600. It came from a Florida collection.
Aiden Lassell Ripley, Fishing a Rocky River, watercolor, 14½" x 20¾", is signed “A. Lassell Ripley” lower left. Estimated at $5000/8000, the fishing scene realized $9000. Copley had sold it previously July 31, 2013, for $3450. Alex Chester collection.
The preening Canada goose from the T. Gray rig is one of fewer than a dozen known and is the only preening example in original paint and fine condition. The 18" long bird, circa 1890, is considered a Massachusetts construction based on regional stylistic and conceptual detail. Estimated at $30,000/50,000, it sold for $54,000. The bird has been published widely, including the catalog cover of this Copley sale. It has history as the cover bird twice on the cover of Decoy Magazine and on the cover of Guyette & Schmidt’s North American decoys auction, July 25 and 26, 2002. Provenance includes the collection of Gordon and Virginia Hayes, Washington, D.C., acquired in 1959; the Hope and George Wick collection; a California collection; and the Ronald J. Gard collection.
Artist Walter T. Matia (b. 1953) created the life-size bronze Mixed Double in 2010 in an edition of one. It achieved a record-setting $30,000 (est. $12,000/18,000). Signed and dated, the 57" x 43" x 27" bronze depicts a mallard and a pintail as they take flight from the brush. The artist said of the bronze, “This would be the start of my signature work.” His wildlife sculptures are held in major museums and private collections and have acquired numerous prestigious awards.
This standing pintail drake, circa 1910, by Charles S. Schoenheider Sr. (1854-1924) of Peoria, Illinois, is known as a standing “ice” decoy, used for late season shooting on the ice and a highly sought-after subset. Schoenheider made only a few dozen standing decoys, and they are considered the very best. This example, 18" x 13½", retains its original paint, is hollow and mounted on a cast metal leg, and is from the carver’s own gunning rig. It is stenciled “C. S. PEORIA” on the belly, and the original metal foot bears the stencil “CS.” Estimated at $30,000/50,000, the decoy realized $60,000. In 2001 it went from Stephen O’Brien Jr. Fine Arts, Duxbury, Massachusetts, to the Peter Brams collection, and it then went to a Florida collection. The Copley catalog notes that Schoenheider decoys have been on the covers of The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys (2000), edited by Joe Engers; Masterworks of the Illinois River (2005) by Stephen O’Brien Jr. and Julie Carlson; and Bird Decoys of North America (2010) by Robert Shaw.
Snowy Owl by Dutch artist Ewoud de Groot (b. 1969), oil on canvas, 39¼" x 39¼", estimated at $8000/12,000, sold for $22,800. The Copley catalog notes that the artist’s “work strives to find both a balance and a tension between the representational and the abstract, the traditional and the contemporary.”
This early plover made on Nantucket around 1850 by an as yet unknown island carver has few surviving comparables. The maker gave the 10½" long hollow bird a tight vertical body seam, an eggshell-thin hull, and extraordinary feathering. He or she would rank high on the list of master carvers, as only a single remarkable curlew and a few plovers by the same hand are known. Two plovers by the same maker were repainted by Elmer Crowell; this example retains the original paint with slight gunning wear and touch-up at the base of the wing. Estimated at $10,000/15,000, it sold for $31,200. It came from a Florida collection.
Lloyd J. Tyler (1898-1970) lived in Crisfield, Maryland, across the street from the Ward brothers. He began carving at age 12 and later completed a program at a Toronto art school. Tyler and his neighbors carved regional birds, each in his own style. Collector and author Henry H. Stansbury first saw this 16" long circa 1930 hooded merganser by Tyler at Richard A. Bourne’s autumn sale in 1986; less than ten years later Stansbury published his first book, Lloyd J. Tyler: Folk Artist, Decoy Maker, which features Tyler’s merganser. The duck appeared again at Guyette & Deeter in 2007 and achieved an auction record price of $170,000. At the Copley auction it was estimated at $100,000/150,000 and sold for $108,000. In original paint, the bird retains the Bourne auction tag, an H. Harrison Huster collection stamp, and an imprint of the Charlie Hunter collection tag.
This egret made circa 1945 by the Ward brothers, Lemuel T. (1896-1984) and Stephen (1895-1976), of Crisfield, Maryland, is the only Ward egret known. The 20" tall bird has a full balsa body with raised wings; the turned head and neck are filled with fibers to simulate feathering; and the white paint with some gray tones simulates feathers. With an estimate of $15,000/25,000, it realized $38,400. The bird was found in a house in Crisfield some 35 years ago and consigned to a James D. Julia and Gary Guyette auction. From there it entered Ronald J. Gard’s collection. Gard is quoted in the catalog notes: “When it came to auction, I knew I needed it for my collection.” It was published in The Ward Brothers’ Decoys: A Collector’s Guide by Ronald J. Gard and Brian J. McGrath (1989).
In 1974 Swiss watchmaker Gérald Genta sketched out on the back of a napkin the prototype of an innovative luxury sports watch, the Nautilus, for Patek Philippe. The Nautilus was released in 1976 as the ref. 3700. The ref. 5726/1A in stainless steel was released in 2012 as an extension of the Nautilus collection. This example, fresh to the market, is based on Genta’s original design with enhancements. It is in very good condition and has had recent servicing by Patek Philippe. Estimated at $65,000/95,000, it realized $72,000.
Three oil on board paintings of ducks by self-taught Minnesota wildlife artist David A. Maass (b. 1929) came from the estate of William S. Sachse and sold above their estimates. This one, Flash of Color—Wood Ducks, 21" x 28", signed “Maass” lower right, depicts a dominant pair emerging from cattails and sold for $20,400 (est. $10,000/20,000).
Frank S. Finney (b. 1947) carved the group of three small chipmunks riding atop a rattlesnake while a larger chipmunk holds the reins, appearing to drive the snake, all of which are set out on a book (or a box) with a single drawer, 25" long x 17" wide x 10" tall. The Capeville, Virginia, carver produced his most elaborate and inventive group so far and signed the bottom with his incised “F.” It was estimated at $20,000/30,000 and realized $42,000.
The life-size female belted kingfisher with reddish brown feathering on her underside, 20" x 10", by Steven A. Weaver (b. 1950) was made in 1995 and is signed and dated on the bottom of the base. Catalog notes describe the bird as one of Weaver’s best works ever offered. Estimated at $4000/6000, it realized $14,400.
This standing pintail drake, circa 1910, by Charles S. Schoenheider Sr. (1854-1924) of Peoria, Illinois, is known as a standing “ice” decoy, used for late season shooting on the ice and a highly sought-after subset. Schoenheider made only a few dozen standing decoys, and they are considered the very best. This example, 18" x 13½", retains its original paint, is hollow and mounted on a cast metal leg, and is from the carver’s own gunning rig. It is stenciled “C. S. PEORIA” on the belly, and the original metal foot bears the stencil “CS.” Estimated at $30,000/50,000, the decoy realized $60,000. In 2001 it went from Stephen O’Brien Jr. Fine Arts, Duxbury, Massachusetts, to the Peter Brams collection, and it then went to a Florida collection. The Copley catalog notes that Schoenheider decoys have been on the covers of The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys (2000), edited by Joe Engers; Masterworks of the Illinois River (2005) by Stephen O’Brien Jr. and Julie Carlson; and Bird Decoys of North America (2010) by Robert Shaw.
Originally published in the May 2025 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2025 Maine Antique Digest
