Nathan Cobb Jr brant decoy swims away with $252K at Guyette & Deeter

ST. MICHAELS, Md. – The sun was out and spirits were high during Guyette & Deeter’s July 29-30 decoy and sporting art auction at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The sale had 120 collectors in attendance and more than 1,000 others participating online and by phone. Gross sales totaled $3.32 million, with 72 lots selling for more than $10,000, including one that exceeded $200,000.

The sale featured decoys and sporting art from the collections of Ron Davis, Dave Fannon, Mark Goldman, Charlie Hart, Dr. Lynwood Herrington, Charlie Hunter III, John and Dennis Jenny, Don Kirson, Dr. Preston Lowe, D.C. North, Kirby and Linda Roberts, Nancy and Randy Root, Rick and Liz Sandstrom, Geoff Stead, Jim Thompson and Herb Wetanson.

The top lot in the sale was an important swimming brant by Nathan Cobb, Jr., which sold for $252,000. Prices were strong throughout, with a 19th-century hollow golden plover from Nantucket realizing $75,000, a pintail by Dave “Umbrella” Watson earning $70,800, a curlew by Eli Doughty bringing $56,400, and a slope breast mallard from the Mason Decoy Factory selling for $48,000. Decorative decoys performed well, too, with a Larry Hayden wood duck achieving a carver record of $42,000.

Decoys and duck carvings weren’t the only highlights of the sale. Guyette & Deeter continues to achieve high prices for sporting art, with an Edmund Osthaus oil on canvas selling for $69,600 and an Aiden Lassell Ripley watercolor going for $45,000. Folk art was well-represented in the sale also. Three 19th-century cigar store Indian carvings from the Mark Goldman collection earned $84,000, $39,000 and $27,000, respectively, and an 80in-tall folk art whimsey tower featured in the 1893 World’s Fair attained $33,000.

Guyette & Deeter’s annual summer auction has historically taken place in New England, however owners Jon Deeter and Zac Cote decided to try something new this summer by keeping things local.

“Our company has been based in St. Michaels since 2005, however, our November auction, in conjunction with the Easton Waterfowl Festival, has been our only local event throughout the year. Talbot County is just a beautiful place to come all year long and Jon and I are excited to start sharing more of it with our clients from across the country,” Cote said.

“For a first-time auction at a new venue, our team handled this sale perfectly. The auction not only went off without a hitch but was big success. We”ll have to do it again,” said Deeter.

 

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