Exceptional and exceedingly rare sunfish decoy by Oscar Peterson of Cadillac, Michigan, circa 1925-35. Sold for $6,500 on Nov. 5, 2005 at Langs. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Lang’s Auction.
MANISTIQUE, Mich. (AP) – Carving fish decoys started out as just a hobby for Manistique resident Walter Welch, but it’s turned out to be much more than that. Welch’s pastime brings peace and tranquility to his life and allows him to connect with others.
Welch, 74, has been seriously making decoys for about 25 years, although he experimented with them long before that. He was 12 when he made his very first decoy.
“When I was a kid, me and my brother used to go spearing on the river and we used to make our own fish decoys,” he said. “Sometimes you’d get lucky and make a good one, and sometimes it wouldn’t turn out that great.”
Making decoys requires precision and care. Welch uses a band saw to cut a piece of basswood, which he said is a less grainy and porous type of wood. He then carves the wood into the desired shape and sands it down until it’s completely smooth.
He attaches fins cut from aluminum, then pours lead into the bottom of the fish. The amount of lead has to be just so, since the weight of the decoy and the way it floats depend on it. Welch said his grandson helps him test the decoys to make sure they float the right way.
“When you put it in the water, it has to lay flat,” said Welch, as he demonstrates by dangling a decoy in a plastic tub of water. The decoy dips just slightly, up and down, under the water, just like a fish when it’s swimming.
After it’s finished, Welch carves his trademark in to the bottom of the decoy: the letters W.W.
Welch’s decoys are used in darkhouse spearfishing, a type of ice fishing. Darkhouse fishing involves a spear and a fishing line tethered to a decoy. The decoy is dangled in the water to lure fish under a large hole cut in the ice.
Some buy Welch’s decoys just for decoration, but others buy them because they work. Welch said he’s had many satisfied customers who have shared their success stories, telling him they’ve caught more pike with his decoy than with any other.
“I guarantee all my decoys,” Welch said. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll give you your money back. I’ve never gotten one back and I’ve never had a complaint.”
Welch began selling his decoys when his friends and family, who were impressed with his work, encouraged him to make a business out of it. Soon, Welch and his wife Darlene began attending craft shows, selling hundreds of decoys. In a year, Welch would make up to 400 of them.
One of his decoys was even featured in a book: The Modern Fishing Lure Collectibles, which also told a little bit about Welch himself. Increasingly, people began asking about Welch’s decoys, and he and Darlene started selling them on the Internet – a successful but short-lived endeavor.
“It got to be a hassle,” Welch said. “I just enjoy making them. I don’t give a doggone if we make a dollar. I love going to craft shows and talking to so many different people. People don’t always buy my fish, but they like to ask how I make them and I enjoy telling them all about it.’
“In the wintertime, I’ll sit down and just carve a little bit while Darlene cuts the fins out. We work together a lot. It’s so much fun. I love it.”
OAK HILL, W.Va. (AP) – Much of the town of Oak Hill was thick with smoke and covered in ashes Thursday after a fire destroyed the largest antique mall in southern West Virginia.
Oak Hill firefighter Jason Gregory said no one was injured after the Carpetbaggers Antique Mall collapsed in flames Wednesday night .
Black smoke was pouring out of the two-story building’s first floor when firefighters arrived and flames quickly shot through the roof, he said.
Firefighters from six area fire departments battled the blaze for nearly six hours, and one crew remained on the scene Thursday morning “mopping up,” Gregory said.
The building, which housed 90 dealers, was a total loss.
The Fayette County Assessor’s Office said the building was assessed for $111,540. The value of the contents was unknown.
The building is owned by National TV & Appliances in Beckley. A call to the company wasn’t immediately returned Thursday.
Retired coal miner Dave Bounds said ashes covered his car parked nearly a mile away from the mall and the town was full of smoke. He said he often visited the 18,000-square-foot mall, where he liked to search through old record albums.
“You name it, it was in there,” Bounds said. “You could go in there and spend eight hours easily.”
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined. The state fire marshal’s office is investigating.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901) Jane Avril, 1899, color lithographic poster on paper. Est. $50,000-$70,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Skinner Inc.
BOSTON – Skinner Inc. will host an auction of American and European paintings on Friday, Sept. 11 at its Boston gallery, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The prints portion of the sale will commence at noon (Eastern Time), with paintings being offered at 4 p.m. Fittingly, this important specialty auction leads Skinner into the fall’s high auction season.
Prints & Photos:
Notable prints up for bid include a Grant Wood Approaching the Storm (lot 210, est. $3/5,000) edition of 250; and Andy Warhol prints from the ENDANGERED SPECIES series including African Elephant (lot 196, est. $20/30,000); Giant Panda (lot 197, est. $15/25,000); and Bighorn Ram (lot 198, est. $15/25,000), each a total edition of 150 plus proofs.
Harold Eugene Edgerton photos to be featured include Broken Glass of Milk (lot 213, est. $1,5/2,000); Gussie Moran (lot 214, est. $1,5/2,500), which comes to Skinner directly from the artist to the family of the present owner; Sprinkler (lot 215, est. $1/1,500); and a lot of two tennis images (lot 216, est. $3/5,000) also directly from the artist to the family of the present owner. In addition, a collection of John S. Johnston photos will be available including four lots of five yachting images each (lot 219, 220, 221, and 222 est. $7/900, $8/1,200, $7/900, $7/900, respectively).
The Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt:
Skinner will offer the second installment of a two-part collection from the estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (née Braman) Grasso of Essex, Connecticut. Ms. Braman was born in 1929 to Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (née Hall) Braman of New York, namesake and cousin of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Ms. Braman was active in the New York art scene and her collection is wide-ranging in medium and style, yet can be characterized as dedicated to avant-garde modernism.
Featured from her collection in this auction is Heavy Weather on Crossing to France, alternatively titled John Paul Jones’ “Ranger” by Jack Lorimer Gray (lot 378, est. $20/30,000); Le Grenadier by François Flameng (lot 317, est. $10/15,000); Henry Moore’s Studies for Sculpture (lot 789, est. $30/50,000); Grand Orchestre by Raoul Dufy (lot 779, est. $75/125,000); and Marc Chagall’s Two Lovers on a Rooster (lot 776, est. $40/60,000), which was one of eight original drawings included in a presentation copy of Souvenirs d’un marchand de tableaux by Ambroise Vollard, published by Éditions Albin Michel in 1937.
Also being offered is Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s L’Amazone /An Illustration for Chasseur de Chevelures (lot 689, est. $20/40,000) and his Jane Avril print (lot 193, est. $50/70,000), third state of three.
American Paintings:
Highlights from American artists include Canada Geese in the Snow by Frank Weston Benson (lot 445, est. $30/50,000) a student of the Academie Julian, member of “The Ten”, and one of the leading American Impressionist artists; Doe and Fawns in a Landscape by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (lot 420, est. $30/50,000), who is best known for realistic, narrative scenes, often featuring animals and huntsmen, using rich natural colors; and Charles Herbert Woodbury’s Spindrift (lot 569, est. $8/12,000); and Bahama Industry by Anthony Thieme (lot 561, est. $15/25,000) best known for his Impressionistic plein-air coastal views and seascapes.
Additional works from American artists to be offered include Duck Hunters by John Whorf (lot 442, est. $7/9,000); Au Bois de Vincennes (At the Forest Vincennes) by Robert Henri (lot 601, est. $10/15,000) a student of the Academie Julian and a leading member of The Eight (or later called Ash Can School); Abbott Fuller Graves’ Portrait of a Young Breton Girl in a Summer Garden (lot 505, est. $15/20,000); and Stylish Mack/Portrait of a Pointer in a Landscape by Percival Leonard Rosseau (lot 441, est. $30/50,000) another student of the Academie Julian who enjoyed a successful career painting hunting dogs.
European Paintings:
Eminent European pieces going on the block include Russian artist Pavel Tchelitchew’s Tete de jeune homme (lot 793, est. $15/25,000); Irishman Aloysius C. O’Kelly’s A Breton Pilgrimage (lot 336, est. $8/12,000); and Chapter Heading from Le Morte Darthur by Aubrey Beardsley (lot 685, est. $15/20,000) – provenance: a collection of Mark Samuels Lasner, then to a private East Coast collection.
Modern Paintings:
The Modern category has exceptional finds highlighted by Xavier Bueno’s Portrait of a Young Girl (lot 804, est. $10/15,000), which comes accompanied by a copy of Xavier Bueno by Salvatore Quasimodo, and Xavier Bueno exhibition pamphlets including Galleria Santacroce, Florence, and Sagittarius Gallery, New York; The First Sin by J. Sultan Ali (lot 805, est.$5/7,000) who was born in Mumbai and studied painting at the venerable Government School of Arts and Crafts, now called the Government College of Fine Arts; Wolf Kahn’s Barn in Summer (lot 513A, est. $12/18,000); an Untitled Landscape with Petrified Boat and Figures by Italian artist Giorgio De Chirico (lot 771, est. $15/25,000), which comes to Skinner from the Hillman Family Collection by descent to Alex Hillman’s private collection c. 1990s; and George Rodrigue’s Cajun Farmer’s Daughters, alternatively titled The Daughters of Francis Robert (lot 757, est. $20/30,000).
Other modern masterpieces up for bid include two works by Diego Rivera: Vendedora de Pozole (lot 767, est. $40/80,000), which relates to a drawing of the same composition in the collection of Rafael Coronel, which is illustrated in Diego Rivera: Catalogo General de Obra de Caballete, no. 1194; and Skyline, Florence, Italy (lot 772, est. $8/12,000) from the collection of Caroline Johnson (Ramsay) Chandler of Wilmington, Delaware, by family descent to private collection, Bristol, Maine. Caroline Ramsay Chandler was the eldest daughter of William Gouverneur Ramsay, a civil engineer and vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. She was a student of the Woodstock Art Colony, an artist in watercolors and oils, as well as an art collector. She traveled to Mexico in the 1930s, and is believed by her family to have acquired art on this trip.
Preview and Special Event:
Previews for the auction will be held from 12 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 9; 12 to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 10; and 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11. During Thursday’s preview, Skinner will host a fine art gallery walk discussing works at auction at 6 p.m. presented by Skinner Painting Director Pro Tem Robin Starr. The gallery walk follows a brief reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. Interested attendees should call 617-350-5400.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Raoul Dufy (French, 1877-1953), Grand Orchestre, 1948, watercolor and ink on paper. Est. $75,000-$125,000. Provenance: Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Grasso, Essex, Conn. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Skinner Inc. Marc Chagall (French/Russian, 1887-1985), Two Lovers on a Rooster, signed unk, graphite, and crayon on laid paper. Est. $40,000-$60,000. Provenance: Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Grasso, Essex, Conn. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Skinner Inc. Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (British/American, 1819-1905), Doe and Fawns in a Landscape, signed oil on canvas. Est. $30,000-$50,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Skinner Inc.
