guyette and deeter

November 12 & 13, 2008 Decoy Auction - Easton, Maryland

The sale grossed $1.9 million with 34 lots selling for over $10,000 and 2 lots selling for over $100,000. As was the case in their April and July 2008 auctions, prices were strong. Top lot in the sale was a pintail hen found in Kankakee, Illinois. It sold for $142,500, which was around 4 times its presale estimate. An Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, MA) bluewing teal decoy sold over its high estimate at $109.250, as did a John Dilley (Long Island, NY) dowitcher at $66,125. A Charles Birch (Willis Wharf, VA) swan consigned by the Maryland Historical Society sold at mid estimate at $92,000. The auction was accompanied by a 50 table decoy show with decoy dealers from all over the US.

Frank Schmidt and Gary Guyette assembled over 850 decoys and related items from collections and directly out of houses all over the United States and Canada. Prices for shorebird decoys and decoys from New England and New Jersey continued their rise. The sale featured decoys from the collections of Richard Coale, Ralph Campbell, Knute Bartrug, Miles Hancock Estate and the Maryland Historical Society

Click here for the November price key | Back to Catalogs Menu
(Prices Listed Include Buyer's Premium)


Pintail drake from Kankakee, Illinois

Canada goose by Tom Chambers

Swan by Charles Birch

Blackduck by the Ward Brothers

Mallard drake by John Holly

Canada goose by Charles Birch

Black bellied plover by Elmer Crowell

Pair of canvasbacks from Upstate New York

Wood duck by Elmer Crowell

Dowitcher by John Dilley

Pair of bluewing teal by Robert McGaw

Pair of widgeon by the Ward Brothers

Ring neck plover by Elmer Crowell

Root head Canada goose by Ike O'Neal

Canada goose by the Ward Brothers

Gunning peep by Elmer Crowell

Walking yellowlegs by Elmer Crowell

Bluewing teal drake by Elmer Crowell

Pair of blackducks by Elmer Crowell

Sanderling by Obediah Verity

Redhead drake by Robert Elliston

Goldeneye drake by Harvey Stevens World Auction Record for maker

Oil on canvas of prairie chickens by Owen Gromme

Greenwing teal hen by Noah Sterling

Pair of pintails by the Ward Brothers

Bluebill hen by Nathan Cobb

Masthead figure from the Maryland schooner "Mattie Dean"