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Detail of rigmate pair of red-breasted mergansers by Elmer Crowell, estimated at $80,000-$120,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.

Crowell decoys everything they’re quacked up to be at Guyette & Deeter, Aug. 8-9

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Rigmate pair of red-breasted mergansers by Elmer Crowell, estimated at $80,000-$120,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.
Rigmate pair of red-breasted merganser decoys by Elmer Crowell, estimated at $80,000-$120,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – On Tuesday, August 8 and Wednesday, August 9, Guyette and Deeter, Inc. will hold its annual Summer Auction at the Venue at Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The sale is headlined by the decoy collection of Russ and Karen Goldberger of Rye, New Hampshire. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

As a respected author, consultant and dealer of quality decoys and folk art for nearly 50 years, Russ Goldberger has been instrumental in the formation of some of the finest collections in America. After refining their own collection for decades, Russ and Karen’s impressive assemblage includes some of the rarest and most desirable forms known, including works by Elmer Crowell, Obediah Verity, the Ward Brothers and Gus Wilson.

Beaver tail-style pintail drake by the Ward Brothers, estimated at $60,000-$90,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.
Beaver tail-style pintail drake by the Ward Brothers, estimated at $60,000-$90,000. Courtesy Guyette & Deeter, Inc.

The two-day auction will also feature the fine art collection of Kenneth and Betty Lay of Toledo, Ohio, which includes important works by Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Childe Hassam, John Frederick Peto and John George Brown. Kenneth and Betty Lay were lifetime appreciators of art and would be excited to know that their collection will be cherished by a new generation of collectors who will recognize the works’ importance and help preserve them for future generations. Fine art consultant and essayist Mehves Lelic was invaluable in assisting with the presentation of the Lay collection in the Guyette and Deeter catalog. Mehves holds a BA from the University of Chicago and an MFA from Bard College and serves as curator of the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, where she has curated more than 20 exhibitions, including Mary Cassatt: Labor and Leisure.

Mary Cassatt, ‘Mother Resting Her Cheek on Her Daughter’s Blond Head’ (also known as ‘Maternite’), estimated at $400,000-$600,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.
Mary Cassatt, ‘Mother Resting Her Cheek on Her Daughter’s Blond Head’ (also known as ‘Maternite’), estimated at $400,000-$600,000. Courtesy Guyette & Deeter, Inc.

Another important highlight of the sale is the first public offering of a Henry Gudgell (1829-1895) walking stick. Found in 1982 at an Indianapolis antique show and recognized as being carved by the same individual who made the one in the Yale University Art Gallery collection, the Henry Gudgell walking stick represents a bridge between African and American folk art traditions, and the maker’s life experience represents the maturing of a new nation – a bridge from old ways to new.

Winslow Homer, ‘Charles Savage Homer, Jr.’ estimated at $300,000-$500,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.
Winslow Homer, ‘Charles Savage Homer, Jr.’ estimated at $300,000-$500,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.

Also in the sale are important decoys, trophy fish and folk art from long-time Chagrin Falls, Ohio collector George Quay. For decades, George scoured the globe for the largest trophy fish he could find, and some of the rarest and largest examples known to exist will be sold by Guyette and Deeter in both the August 8-9 sale and in upcoming auctions.

Edmund Osthaus, ‘Mother Saint Bernard Looking Down at her Five Pups,’ estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.
Edmund Osthaus, ‘Mother Saint Bernard Looking Down at her Five Pups,’ estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Guyette & Deeter, Inc.

Once again, Guyette and Deeter will offer a selection of cigar store trade figures from the collection of Mark Goldman as well as others. From Audubon, Bard, and Gruppe, to Bernier the Lumberman, Edgar Tolson, and Elijah Pierce, the sale features something to delight all lovers of American art, decoys and folk art.

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