AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS
It has been exceptionally rewarding to watch the development and growth of Copley over the last eight years. I am proud of what our specialists and staff have accomplished in such a short period of time. From 2008 to 2012 we have doubled our annual sales, which was no small feat given the strong economic head winds throughout much of this period. Over the course of the last eight years, Copley has set over twenty world records for paintings, prints, and bronzes, and has hauled in the top decoy lot at auction three of the last four years. I look forward to Copley’s continued success and to what the coming years will bring. Stephen B. O’Brien Jr. President of Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC
$6.4 $ 6 million
$ 5 million
$4.2
$4.2
2009
2010
$ 4 million
$4.1
$3.2
$ 3 million $2.6 $2.3 $ 2 million
$ 1 million
0
2006
2007
2008
2011
2012
Copley Annual Sales Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert (1865-1926) Roused, A Tiger and Tigress, 1912 sold $333,500 <
Printed in the USA on recycled paper by Spire, Boston, MA PHOTOGRAPHY David Allen DESIGN Molly Quill ©2013
Meet Our Team
Aimee Stashak-Moore Auction Coordinator info@copleyart.com Stephen B. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Jr.
President Head Fine Art and Decoy Specialist sobrien@copleyart.com
Decoy Specialist colin@copleyart.com
Colin McNair Financial Controller cinnie@copleyart.com
Cinnie Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien
Colin McNair
Fine Art Specialist fineart@copleyart.com Kathryn Robinson
Decoy Consultant decoy@copleyart.com Jim Parker
A. Elmer Crowell patron Harry V. Long begins collecting decoys
A. Elmer Crowell pintail Purchased Sold by Steve O’Brien Jr. for then auction record $801,500
The first decoy to break the $10,000 mark sells at Bourne’s Mackey Collection sale
privately by Steve O’Brien Jr. for a world record $1.13M
A chip off the old block, Copley Decoy Specialist, Colin McNair, sells his first decoy at age 6
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1933 1934
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2003
2000
Copley President Steve O’Brien Jr., age 2, speaks his first word “Duck!” Donal C. O’Brien Jr. collects first decoy, cutting it out of his grandfather’s rig at age 10
Joel Barber authors first major publication on decoys
A. Elmer Crowell goose Purchased Sold by Steve O’Brien Jr. for then auction record $684,500
privately by Steve O’Brien Jr. for a world record $1.13M
Steve O’Brien Jr. co-authors and publishes Masterworks of the Illinois River
Copley sells 6 decoys from the Harry V. Long Collection for $1.8M
Copley Fine Art Auctions, LLC is founded in Boston, MA
Copley adds 2nd auction to its lineup The Winter Sale
Copley sells your collection at auction. Call 617.536.0030 or email info@copleyart.com with your potential consignment.
The Shelburne Museum purchases two Mark McNair swans from Copley for $10,925 and $16,100, the latter a world record for a contemporary decoy
2005
2006
2007
2009
2011
2012
Aimee Stashak-Moore enlists as Copley’s “5 star general” Auction Coordinator Steve O’Brien Jr. co-authors and publishes The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley
Copley’s inaugural Sporting Sale starts out strong, selling a Frank W. Benson oil painting for $747,500
Steve O’Brien Jr. brokers the largest known private decoy transaction in history selling a collection of 31 decoys for $7.5M
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art puts decoys on display in newly opened Americana wing in 2012
western • wildlife • ca • southern • landscape boston impressionist • • marine • decoys • w • fishing • ethnographic j• books • photography miniatures • prints • pa ngravings • folk • bron decorative carvings • Ansel Adams (1902-1984) Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942 sold $54,625
anine Estate and Collection • Services • work cs ... y ap ... nze • wat Copley Fine Art Auctions offers a comprehensive range
of auction, private sale, and appraisal services for our clients. Our team of professionals has decades of experience in the fields of American antiques, folk art, fine art, and decoys. We work with law firms, trust and estate professionals, museums, executors, heirs, and private clients assisting with the valuation and sale of single items and entire collections.
Copley offers free and confidential auction evaluations, and will be able to advise you on how to achieve the highest prices for your valuable objects. Our specialists will assist you in every step, from the initial valuation of your item or collection through to the conclusion of sale. If for some reason an item or collection falls outside the parameters of a Copley sale, our vast network of contacts ensures that our clients will be given the appropriate referral.
Copley has extensive experience preparing formal USPAP compliant appraisals for insurance, estate, charitable donation, trust and probate, and equitable distribution. Depending on the location of the items, we offer our clients a complimentary initial walk-through service to determine the extent of the project.
World Records
Edmund H. Osthaus (1858-1928) Pointer with Quail, 1890 sold $230,500 < Ogden M. Pleissner (1905-1983) The Rapids, 1938 sold $345,000 >
Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969) Point in the Corn sold $89,130 for watercolor <
Lynn Bogue Hunt (1878-1960) Blue Fin Tuna sold $126,500 > Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927) Wild Turkey, 1924 sold $86,250 <
world record
American
World Records
Paintings >
Philip R. Goodwin (1882-1935) October Hunting, 1911 sold $161,000 Frank W. Benson (1862-1951) Salmon Fishing, 1927 sold $747,500 > Edmund C. Tarbell (1862-1938) An Opal: Study of Yellow and White Light sold $120,750 <
Red-Breasted Merganser Hen Captain Samuel A. Fabens (1814-1899) rig sold $184,000
Decoys
Canvas Covered Old Squaw Lothrop Holmes (1824-1899) for canvas sold $218,500 decoy
Canada Geese Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920) and Harry M. Shourds (1890-1943) sold $201,250
Preening Pintail A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $546,250 Preening Eider Augustus A. Wilson (1864-1950) sold $172,500 for species
Canvasback Pair John “Daddy” Holly (1818-1892) or James T. Holly (1855-1935) sold $155,250
With an emphasis on quality, Copley is leading the decoy market, selling a remarkable 10 of the top 12 decoy lots at auction since 2009
Broadbill The Ward Brothers sold $51,750
Canvasback The Ward Brothers sold $63,250
Pintail Ira D. Hudson (1876-1949) sold $28,750
Black-Bellied Plover A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $60,375 Robin Snipe, Curlew, Yellowlegs Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920) sold $17,250, $26,450, $16,100
Pintail John Tornberg (1902-1971) sold $26,450
Bobwhite Quail A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $46,000 Roland H. Clark (1874-1957) Dawn sold $37,375
Mallard Pair Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $48,875
Red-Breasted Merganser L. Rhodes Truex (1860-1934) sold $37,375
Wood Duck Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $31,050
Yellowlegs George Boyd (1873-1941) sold $18,975
Ruffed Grouse The Ward Brothers sold $40,250
Pintail Hen H.R. Trinosky (1874-1956) rig sold $63,250
Curlew Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $37,375
Bluebill Ira D. Hudson (1876-1949) sold $48,875
Pintail Pair G. Bert Graves (1880-1956) sold $28,750
Golden Plover Rig Mark McNair (b. 1950) sold $37,375 for contemporary decoy lot
Golden Plover Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $18,400
Flying Bufflehead Pair (drake shown) Chauncey Wheeler (1888-1945) sold $48,875
Miniature Green-Winged Teal Joseph W. Lincoln (1859-1938) sold $7,475
Merganser Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $37,950
Black Duck A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $218,500
Canada Goose John Tax (1894-1967) sold $115,000
Ogden M. Pleissner (1905-1983) Early Morning sold $71,875 detail
Complete Set of Twenty-Five Miniature Waterfowl A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) sold $92,000
Robin Snipe Mason Decoy Factory (1896-1924) sold $20,700
Sperm Whale Clark Voorhees (1911-1980) sold $11,500
Carved Eagle John Haley Bellamy (1836-1914) sold $21,850
Americana
The American Sporting Dog Plates designed by Marguerite Kirmse (1885-1954) sold $7,475
Bear James W. Marshall (1811-1885) sold $27,600
Double Saddle Blanket sold $10,350
> Harry H. Wickey (1892-1968) Baseball Player sold $8,850 Southern Cane sold $6,037 <
Salesmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sample Canoe Penobscot Canoe Co. (attr.) sold $17,250
Fly Reel Edward Vom Hofe (1846-1920) sold $2,645
Fishing
Atlantic Salmon John Tully (1862-1931) sold $12,650
Two-Piece Trout Rod Everett Garrison (1893-1975) sold $6,325
Bronzes
William J. Koelpin (1938-1996) Bear Country, 1994 sold $20,700 William J Koelpin (1938-1996) Storm Warning, 1990 sold $20,700 James E. Fraser (1876-1953) Buffalo, 1968 sold $17,250 Charles Schreyvogel (1861-1912) The Last Drop, 1903 sold $109,250 for bronze <
American Prints
Currier and Ives (1857-1907) The Life of a Hunter- A Tight Fix sold $40,250 detail
>
Arthur Burdett Frost (1851-1928) Shooting Pictures, set of twelve, 1895 sold $63,250
after John James Audubon (1785-1851) Snowy Heron or White Egret sold $41,400 > Frank W. Benson (1862-1951) The Gunner, 1915 for a print sold $21,850 <
Carl Rungius (1869-1959) Copley is a world leader in the sale of works by Carl Rungius, having sold 15 of the 15 paintings we have offered at auction, all within or above estimate.
detail
Home of the Big Horn sold $97,750
detail
Bull Moose sold $373,750 detail
Wapiti sold $195,500
detail
Near Summit Lake, British Columbia sold $316,250
detail
Humpback Grizzly sold $460,000
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