Copley Fine Art Auctions’ January 16, 2012, sale of sporting art and antique decoys brought a total of $1.92 million and set 10 new world records. The event took place at Wallace Hall in New York, with Copley and Keno Auctions sharing the venue to kick off Americana Week. The auction was up twenty five percent from Copley's $1.5 million inaugural Winter Sale last January. Over 532 bidders participated, and the auction house saw action from both new and repeat buyers alike. Copley is off to its strongest start in its six -year history, with not only a solid Winter Sale 2012, but also a major seven-figure private sale under its belt.  

For its sophomore Winter Sale, Copley once again welcomed art lovers and collectors on the Saturday before the auction at their Scotch and Smoked Salmon Preview Party. The event set the tone for the rest of the week, with more than 500 guests previewing the wide array of auction items.

Session I of the sale opened strong, with a swordfish weathervane by contemporary carver Mark McNair (b. 1950) bringing $11,500, nearly twice its high estimate. A dove by the same maker also performed well, reaching $1,265 on a $6/900 estimate.

Mason (1896-1924) decoy results were solid, with all of the factory’s shorebirds performing exceptionally well. The salesman sample golden plover rose to the top of the group, bringing $18,400. The robin snipe also did well, splitting the difference of its $8/12,000 estimate at $10,350. Other notable lots included the lesser yellowlegs, which realized $6,325; the dowitcher, which brought $9,200; and the pair of mallards from the G.K. Schmidt rig, which came in at $42,500.

The Ward brothers’ (Lemuel T., 1896-1983, and Stephen, 1895-1976) goose and the Blair bluebill did not quite hit their low estimates, but buyers got great deals at $27,600 and $13,800, respectively.

Lot 92, a dowitcher from coastal Virginia, proved popular. It more than tripled its high estimate of $2,500, bringing $9,200. The next two lots were also in demand, with two early yellowlegs attributed to David Goodspeed (1862-1943) skyrocketing past their high estimate of $4,000 to land at $10,035. A sanderling pair by A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) also did well, reaching $9,775, and a George Boyd (1873-1941) black-bellied plover came in at $5,175. The Dexter-Gardner (d. 1901, 1844-1907) willet rounded out the significant shorebirds bringing $46,000.

Two flying ducks by New York maker Chauncey Wheeler (1888-1945) soared over their estimate of $20/40,000 peaking at $48,875, a world record for a pair of flyers by the artist.  

A pintail hen from the Kankakee marsh hit its mark, bringing $63,250. Bert Graves’ (1880-1956) pintail pair flew over its $15/25,000 estimate coming in at $28,750. A preening mallard drake by Ted Mulliken (1896-1964) also did well, realizing $3,737, towards the high end of its $2/$4,000 estimate.

Obediah Verity’s (1813-1901) black-bellied plover came in above its low estimate at $28,750, as did A. Elmer Crowell’s (1862-1952) version of the same species, bringing $69,000.

Gus Wilson carvings (1864-1950) performed well, with his standing gull exceeding its $3/6,000 estimate landing at $9,775, while the maker’s Sandhill crane, with some condition issues, seemed a relative bargain at $4,600.

Once again results for carvings by East Harwich maker A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) were solid, with all three life-size mantle birds hitting estimate. The preening curlew reached $69,000, the wing-up yellowlegs brought $40,250, and the preening black duck $34,500. When speaking about the superb set of twenty five miniatures that did not sell, chairman Stephen O’Brien remarked, “Perhaps we were a little bit aggressive with the $100/150,000 estimate. We sold the set three years ago for $92,000, but given the strength of works by Crowell in our last few sales, I thought they would go. I obviously didn’t do a good enough job of explaining the importance of these amazing works to potential buyers.”

Sales of folk art were strong, with the John Bellamy (1836-1914) carved eagle landing just above its $20,000 low estimate at $21,850. Charles Hart’s (1862-1960) penguin also landed within estimate at $6,900. Nantucket Lightship baskets performed well, with the top lot coming in over estimate at $2,415.

The John W. Marshall (1810-1885) carved bear cane stand was especially sought after. Three phone bidders drove it to a world record price of $26,700, over twice its $10,000 high estimate. A “Mammy” doorstop was also popular on the phones, with numerous bidders battling to bring the item to $3,737, six times its $4/600 estimate.

Reels and duck calls had strong showings as well. A pair of Charles Perdew (1874-1963) calls was the highlight of the group, going for $18,400, towards the top of the $10/20,000 estimate. Three Saracione and Bill Ballan reels nearly doubled their high estimate of $1,200 going for $2,300.

In Session II Copley continued its impeccable record with works by Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius (1869-1959). The top painting lot in the sale was the artist’s oil In the Cedar Swamp, as phone bidders pushed the work towards the high end of its $150/250,000 estimate, topping out at $241,500. 

On a related note, Copley announced after the auction that they had been selected to sell a collection of Rungius works at their 2012 summer Sporting Sale (July 12th and 13th in Massachusetts). Two of these works were previewed in New York after the auction. The important collection of wildlife art also features a painting by Percival Leonard Rosseau (1859-1937) of two English setters and the number three casting of Charles Shreyvogel’s (1861-1912) bronze The Last Drop.

Although the Rungius painting was the top lot, Louis Agassiz Fuertes’ (1874-1927) oil of wild turkey was the breakout picture, with highly competitive bidding on the phones and on the floor. A bidder in the audience eventually won, with the $86,250 price not only doubling the high estimate of $40,000, but nearly tripling the artist’s previous record. 

Lot 252, a “cabin door” oil of hanging game by Richard LaBarre Goodwin (1840-1910) surpassed its high estimate of $30,000 netting $37,375. This was the highest price achieved for the artist at auction since the sale of the record setting oil Theodore Roosevelt’s Cabin Door, in 2006.

An oil depicting a winter scene of grouse by New York painter George Browne (1918-1958) titled Yellow Birch in New Snow landed squarely in the middle of its $15/25,000 estimate bringing $19,550. Another work by the artist of pintails performed well, realizing $10,350 on a $8/12,000 estimate.

Bob Kuhn’s A Two Brooks Idyll fell just short of its $20,000 low estimate coming in at $17,250.

Alexander Pope’s notable oil of a setter estimated at $100/200,000 failed to find a home. O’Brien commented, “Again, we may have been over ambitious with the estimate, but the painting is so phenomenal, we thought it would go."

Ogden M. Pleissner’s (1905-1983) work was in strong demand, as all four watercolors offered found buyers. The artist’s driven grouse scene approached its high estimate of $50,000 bringing $48,875, and Coming to Net split the uprights of its $20/40,000 estimate coming in at $32,200.

Etchings by Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969) did well, with the top result being a pair of shooting works, Quail Shooting and Point on Quail, which realized $1,610.

The rebound in the contemporary painting market that Copley saw at its 2011 Sporting Sale in July continued in New York with works by Mel Smothers (b. 1947), Brett J. Smith (b. 1958), and James Harris (b. 1946) all climbing past their estimates to $1,725, $9,200, and a record breaking $3,737 respectively. 

An oil of a setter and woodcock by Luke Frazier (b. 1970) did especially well skyrocketing past its $3/5,000 estimate to $10,350 and Pushing to the Meadow, an oil of elk neared its high estimate reaching $14,950. A David Maass (b. 1929) work of green-winged teal also saw a solid result, landing in the middle of its $8/12,000 estimate at $10,925.

A watercolor by John Whorf (1903-1959) titled Early Morning in the East Harbor, made its estimate bringing $8,625.

Bronzes, specifically William J. Koelpin’s (1938-1996) Storm Warning, were in demand. The work was hotly contested by a bank of phone bidders who drove the price up to $20,700 pushing it well beyond its $10/15,000 estimate, setting a new world record for the artist’s work at auction.

Also popular were the Navajo textiles, with the top two lots being the late classic serape, coming in at $6,900 and the double saddle blanket, which brought $10,350.

Other strong pieces included a Will Simmons (1884-1949) ink and gouache drawing of three cranes, which more than doubled the high estimate $1,200 reaching $2,530; The River in June, a watercolor by Thomas Aquinas Daly (b. 1937), which brought $6,900 on a $3/5,000 estimate; and a David Lazarus (b. 1952) oil of Canada geese, which realized $2,070.

Copley had continued success with books, selling over 50 lots, many of them from the John E. Lennon Sporting Library. Two highlights were Joseph M. Forshaw’s Kingfishers and Related Birds, which brought $1,725; and Joel Barber’s Wildfowl Decoys, which ended the auction as the last lot coming in at $2,415.

All prices include a 15% buyer’s premium. Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC is already preparing for its 2012 Sporting Sale, which will be held July 12 and 13 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and welcomes consignment inquiries. Please call 617.536.0030 for information regarding the upcoming auction or private sales. A full list of official prices realized from Copley’s 2012 Winter Sale is available at www.copleyart.com.