Guyette and Schmidt, Inc. will hold their 23rd annual fall decoy auction on November 11 & 12, 2009.  There will be a preview each morning before the auction as well as an additional preview on Tuesday November 10th from 6 – 8 pm.  The sale, which has a projected gross of 1.7 million dollars, will be held at the Talbot County Community Center, on Route 50 in Easton, Maryland.  Over 600 decoys and related items will be sold with prices ranging from $500 - $100,000.  A decoy buy, sell, and swap meet will be held in the parking lot, with an additional 50 tables of decoy exhibitors inside the hall.  The auction will be held in conjunction with the country’s premier decoy show, the Easton Waterfowl Festival.  More information on the Waterfowl Festival is available at (410) 822-4567. 

            This year’s sale will feature decoys from the collections of Gene and Linda Kangas, Ray Steelman, and Wilbur Brown, Jr., as well as others.  In addition to hunting decoys, the auction will include waterfowl related flat art.  Included in the sale is a good selection of decoys by world famous carver Elmer Crowell of Cape Cod and the Ward Brothers of Crisfield, Maryland.  Also a large selection of decoys from Virginia, New Jersey, and the Pacific Coast will be in the sale.  Most notably, the finest selection of North Carolina decoys since the collection of Jim Lewis, Jr. was sold by Guyette & Schmidt, Inc. in 1997 will be offered this auction.

            A fully illustrated color catalog with guaranteed descriptions is available for $36.00 (price includes postage and post sale price key).  A free auction brochure is also available.  The firm welcomes phone and absentee bidding.  Either may be obtained by contacting: Guyette and Schmidt, Inc., PO Box 1170, St. Michaels, MD 21663, or by calling (410) 745-0485, Fax (410) 745-0487, www.guyetteandschmidt.com.  Online bidding will also be available for this auction through Art Fact.  Visit the upcoming auctions page at www.artfact.com for more information and registering.

            Guyette and Schmidt, Inc. also operates an E-Commerce site called “Everyone’s Decoy Warehouse” where quality decoys, hunting related flat art, past auction catalogs and decoy reference books with guaranteed descriptions are offered at reasonable prices at www.guyetteandschmidt.com/warehouse.

            Guyette and Schmidt, Inc. is the worlds largest decoy auction firm.  They hold three decoy auctions per year in different locations across the United States and have sold over $119,000,000 in decoys at auction and many millions more in private sales.  In January 2007, Guyette and Schmidt, Inc., in conjunction with Christies, sold a Lothrop Holmes red-breasted merganser for $856,000, a record price for any decoy sold at auction.  Guyette and Schmidt Inc.’s next decoy sale will be held April 22nd & 23rd in St. Charles, Illinois.