Outstanding Preening Black Duck by Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949)

Lot 58

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

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

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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

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Lot Description

Outstanding Preening Black Duck
Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949)
Stratford, CT, c. 1930
15 in. long

"Wheeler worked from nature. He loved to watch the ducks in the local ponds and estuaries, especially when they were relaxing and resting. He studied their attitudes and, in particular, their head positions. Then, he would go home and try to catch their gracious, fluid shapes in his manmade birds. He was a realist with a sure instinct for sculptural form." - Adele Earnest, The Art of The Decoy: American Bird Carvings, 1965

Charles Edward "Shang" Wheeler is widely recognized as the most celebrated bird carver from Connecticut. While his predecessor, Albert Laing (1811-1886), is credited with originating what would become the Connecticut style, it was Wheeler who took the region's decoy-making craft to the next level. He introduced innovative carving and painting techniques and created everything from sandhill cranes to sailfish and rattlesnakes. Shang, as everyone called him, was an enigmatic figure: oysterman, politician, boxer, cartoonist, public speaker, conservationist, and world-renowned decoy carver.

In 1923 Wheeler arrived on the competition carving scene with a bang. A newly formed conservation group led by Joel Barber, called the Anti-Dusker Society, sponsored one of the first decoy shows in the country in Bellport, Long Island. A carving competition held at the event was geared towards the hunters in attendance to further advance the concept of shooting over decoys. The inaugural event attracted amateur and professional carvers from near and far, and it was Wheeler who took home top amateur honors. Joel Barber stated that Wheeler's model had demonstrated "the highest development yet reached in the American art of decoy carving." Indeed, Wheeler's contribution has influenced generations of carvers around the country.

This preening decoy is one of Wheeler's finest works and shows Shang at the height of his innovation and ability. Like A. Elmer Crowell, Wheeler had a special affinity for the native black duck, which is apparent here with his best scratch paint to the head and soft feathering to the body.

No other black ducks of this model and quality are known to have surfaced in the "Shang" monograph or in the modern auction market. This hollow pine decoy was preserved from hunting and acquired from a friend of Shang's by Ruth and Harvey Lapp, who owned a game farm in New York. A collector's stamp on the underside reads "DSC," denoting the Dave Campbell Collection.
Excellent original paint with very light wear.

Provenance: Ruth and Harvey Lapp Collection, acquired from a friend of the artist
Judge James Estate, acquired from the above
Dave Campbell Collection

Literature: Dixon MacD. Merkt, "Shang: A Biography of Charles E. Wheeler," Spanish Fork, UT, 1984, front cover, p. 19, 129, 152, 172 and 173, pl. 5, 107, 142, 188-192, black ducks illustrated. Guyette and Schmidt, "North American Decoys at Auction, April 26 & 27, 2001," Ogunquit, ME, p. 66, lot 257, exact decoy illustrated. Laurence Sheehan, "The Birding Life," New York, NY, 2011, p. 95, O'Brien straight-head decoy illustrated.

Condition

Please refer to the description; if you have additional questions, email colin@copleyart.com.
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