Rare and Important Eider Drake, Maker Unknown, Probably Mohegan Island, Maine Circa 1900

Solid body with inlet head and bill carving.
Original paint with minor wear.

The Family of Dr. James M. McCleery, Houston, Texas

Robert Shaw, Call to the Sky, The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D., Houston Museum of Natural Science, October 1992 - January 1993, p. 2, illustrated.

Decoy Magazine, "Collector Profile - Ron Gard," September - October 2008, p. 8.
Robert Shaw, Bird Decoys of North America: Nature, History and Art, (New York / London, Sterling Publishing Co., 2010): cover illustration and p. 147.
Shaw, Robert. Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, MD. (Houston Museum of Natural Science, 1992): pp. 2-3.

Concerning the drake Maine Common Eider decoy, ex-McCleery collection: Decoy is 19" long, 8" high, 8.5" wide, has an inset neck, straight head, no eyes. Broken leather rigging thong under chest is held in place by 3 square cut nails. Modest wear to underside in back. Light rubs to tail edge, beak and sides. Slight roughness in front of chest. Crisp-edged paint, finely formed details, finger plane marks around underside. Lot #124: sold Apr, 1990, Guyette & Schmidt. Pictured, page 3, Call to the Sky by Robert Shaw; on cover: Bird Decoys of North America by Robert Shaw. X-ray taken Jan 9, 2014 at Acton Animal Hospital, Acton MA 01720 Top view: The decoy's sharp, white edge confirms lead content of paint. as does the small white crescentshaped cut in the bird's left side and white in the inset neck seam. Plate shows an interior 3" corroded square cut nail neck-spike, also 3 small 1.5" square cut nails holding the broken leather rigging thong in place under chest. Also, a single #4 buckshot in left flank. (Four independent gunners confirmed, unprompted, that #4 shot is used when hunting eider.) Profile view: The decoy head's sharp white edge and white puddled incised details confirms lead content of paint. 3 small 1.5" square cut nails (one directly behind the other in front) are furry-edged, indicating corrosion. The same corrosion is seen in the 3" square cut nail neck spike. Gwladys Hopkins -- dottyroger@aim.com --978-368-8720 5H Iris Court Acton, MA 01720 Please refer to department for additional condition information or images of the X-rays
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This is arguably the most sophisticated of all eider decoys, with flowing lines and stylized abstract paint worthy of a Zen calligrapher. 

Created by an unknown carver on a small, rocky Maine island twelve miles out to sea, this unique decoy is an extremely sophisticated work of American sculpture that exudes majesty, power, refinement, and quiet elegance. The bird’s gently rounded and reductive body form, the flowing lines of its deceptively simple carving and paint, and the gorgeous negative space described by the throat of its inlet head combine in a proud and graceful masterpiece. Although it was made as a hunter’s tool, this is an unsurpassed expression of intuitive aesthetic genius, a bird portrait as expressive as the best of Audubon and a work of art worthy of comparison with any American painting or sculpture.

Seagoing eiders and scoters were among the most common species of the Maine coast. Eiders and scoters, which dive to feed on mussels and other mollusks, congregate around ocean shoals, so hunting them requires considerable skill with a boat as well as with a shotgun. Maine decoys for these species were typically flat-bottomed, with the head inlet into the body. Simple, unshaded painting broadly outlined the species' plumage patterns.

This singular decoy was part of the incomparable collection of the late Dr. James M. McCleery, which also included classic works by such acclaimed carvers as John Blair Sr., William Bowman, Hucks Caines, Nathan Cobb Jr., Elmer Crowell, Lothrop Holmes, Joseph Lincoln, Obediah Verity, Lem and Steve Ward, and Gus Wilson. Dr. McCleery, who is widely considered the greatest of all decoy connoisseurs, considered this particular decoy the finest he owned, and, because of his devotion to it, the McCleery family withheld it from the auction of his collection by Guyette and Schmidt and Sotheby’s in January 2000. It has never been offered publicly before.