Golden Plover by Mr. Webster

Lot 148

About Seller

20 Winter Street
Pembroke, MA 02359
United States

Founded in 2005, Copley Fine Art Auctions is a boutique auction house specializing in antique decoys and American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Over the course of the last two decades, the firm has set auction records for not only individual decoy makers, but also entire carving regions. Copley...Read more

Bid Increments

Price	Bid Increment
$0	$50
$1,000	$100
$2,500	$250
$5,000	$500
$10,000	$1,000
$25,000	$2,500
$50,000	$5,000

About Auction

The Winter Sale 2026, Day 1 by Copley Fine Art Auctions

Live

The Winter Sale 2026, Day 1

By Copley Fine Art Auctions

Feb 20, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-02-20 10:00:00 2026-02-20 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Winter Sale 2026, Day 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/copley/the-winter-sale-2026-day-1-22120 Lots 1-300 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com

View Full Catalog (298)

Lot Description

Golden Plover
Mr. Webster
Nantucket, MA, c. 1850
10 1/4 in. long

"Golden Plovers visited the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, with predictable regularity late in August. Most of the decoys used for them are both old and choice." - William J. Mackey Jr., "American Bird Decoys"

This early plover with a sharp tail cut is among the best of its kind from the iconic Webster rig. Created in an upright posture, the swooping lines of this alert siren are on full display.

Early collectors Donal C. O'Brien Jr., William J. Mackey Jr., Adele Earnest, and Dr. Peter Muller all believed that the plover from this rig were some of the finest works of American folk art they had ever come across.

Indeed, Mackey and Donal O'Brien hunted down and acquired fifteen of the seventeen examples that surfaced. The majority continue to reside in the Donal O'Brien Collection. One can be seen in Mackey and Weiler's "Classic Shorebird Decoys" portfolio and three were recently featured in the Peterson Collection exhibition and catalog revisiting the Weiler folio.

The rig is consistent in paint, depicted in bold breeding plumage; however, each bird's form is slightly different and the maker's free-hand approach produced a lively flock with no two birds exactly alike. Henry Bishop's note relays that early Nantucket collector Robert Congdon was told by Franklin Folger Webster that "...he remembers going out with his grandfather and when he got home he had to wash and wipe the birds and put them away in a cloth bag."

No survey of Nantucket shorebirds would be complete without an example of Webster's contributions to American folk art.
Original paint with even gunning wear.

Provenance: Webster Family Rig Henry Bishop Collection

Literature: Copley Fine Art Auctions, "Classic Shorebird Decoys featuring Milton C. Weiler's Original Watercolors from The Peterson Collection," Exhibition Catalog, November 2025, pp. 40-41, rigmate trio illustrated. Milton C. Weiler, "The Classic Decoy Series: A Portfolio of Paintings," New York, NY, 1969, pl. 2, rigmate illustrated. Robert Shaw, "Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D.," Houston, TX, 1992, p. 13, related example illustrated. Jeff Waingrow, "The American Decoy: Folk Sculpture from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Donal C. O'Brien Jr.," The Clarion: America's Folk Art Magazine, Fall 1981, p. 30, rigmate illustrated. Copley Fine Art Auctions, "The Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection of Important American Sporting Art and Decoys, Sessions I-II," July 27, 2017, inside front cover, six rigmates illustrated in Donal O'Brien's living room.

Condition

Please refer to the description; if you have additional questions, email colin@copleyart.com.
Shipping Info
- Shipping info
  
  Copley does not offer in-house packing or shipping. For clients who require shipping, please complete the Shipping Release Form and return it with your payment. The form includes a list of shippers we frequently work with.