The Doherty Open-Bill Wilson Merganser
Augustus Aaron "Gus" Wilson (1864-1950)
South Portland, ME, c. 1900
16 1/2 in. long

“Those who have seen and handled this bird consider it to be among the top few, if not the finest Maine decoy ever offered at auction. It is certainly the finest Gus Wilson ever offered at auction.”
-Gary Guyette and Frank Schmidt, “Important Waterfowl Decoys & Bird Carvings at Auction,” 1992, discussing the open-bill Wilson merganser

Merganser decoys have always held a special place amongst carvers and collectors of decoys and folk art. The species’ animated forms, pronounced crests, and striking plumage lend themselves to artistic designs of virtually endless interpretations. From the earliest carvers of wooden decoys centuries ago to present-day carvers, makers have been captivated by these seemingly playful diving birds. As collectors share this appreciation, many of the world-record auction results for top-tier carvers have come from merganser decoys; this decoy alone has set the world record for Gus Wilson on two separate occasions.

Wilson was born “Down East,” on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Though he is foremost remembered as a carver, Wilson was also a boatbuilder, waterman, outdoorsman, and a lighthouse keeper. He was an attendant to a number of Maine’s light-houses, including the Great Duck Island Light in Frenchboro, Goose Rocks Station on Fox Island, Two Lights Station on Cape Elizabeth, Marshall Point Light at Port Clyde, and Spring Point Light in Casco Bay.

Wilson’s interests were by no means limited to decoys. He carved a variety of songbirds, decoratives, weathervanes, and big cats. A pair of Wilson tigers is featured in the American Identities exhibit, on display as a part of the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York.

This merganser sculpture epitomizes the decoy as American folk art and features an exceptionally rendered cocked-back and turned head, along with raised-wing and uplifted-tail carving. The delicately carved open-bill design is a treatment virtually never seen intact in working decoys and gives the bird an almost smiling air. Wilson’s attention to anatomy is commendable, with the very tip of the upper bill slightly curved and the inside of the lower bill accurately painted red. The intricate bill’s survival is remarkable given the bird’s use as a hunting decoy.

The bird measures over sixteen and one-half inches in length, and seven inches in both width and height. The two-piece construction has a prodigious four-and-one-half-inch by two-and-one-half-inch inletted head with a canted and scribed fit. It features pinched breast carving, tack eyes, full cheeks, and eye grooves that taper to a pointed crest.
Excellent original paint with gunning wear, including a rub on the left wing. An imperfection original to the decoy is under the left side of the tail.

Provenance: James and Pat Doherty Collection
Thomas M. Evans Jr. Collection

Literature: Gary Guyette and Frank Schmidt, Inc., “Important Waterfowl Decoys & Bird Carvings At Auction,” Ogunquit, ME, July 1992, lot 1, front cover, exact decoy illustrated.
Joe Engers, ed., “Decoy Magazine,” May/June 1992, p. 15, exact decoy illustrated.
Jackson Parker, “The [1992] Year in Review,” Decoy Magazine, 1993, front cover, pp. 3, 11, 28, and 32, exact decoy illustrated.
Joe Engers, ed., “The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys,” San Diego, CA, 1990, pp. 36-43, rigmate illustrated.
Robert Shaw, “Bird Decoys of North America,” New York, NY, 2010, pp. 147-149.
Stephen B. O'Brien Jr. and Chelsie W. Olney, "Elmer Crowell: Father of American Bird Carving," Hingham, MA, 2018, p. 279, exact decoy illustrated.

Please email condition report requests to colin@copleyart.com. Any condition statement given is a courtesy to customers, Copley will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition.