Guyette & Deeter

At the Guyette & Deeter auction during the North American Decoy Collectors Association Show in Chicago, two historic decoys crossed the $1 million threshold, redefining what’s possible in our field. The Joe Lincoln Wood Duck realized $1.26 million, while the Elmer Crowell Preening Wigeon reached $1.14 million — both eclipsing the long‑standing $856,000 record set by the Lothrop Holmes red‑breasted merganser. Moments like this elevate the legacy of waterfowl carving and highlight the cultural importance of sporting collectibles. To dive deeper into the Jim & Diane Cook Collection, listen to Katie Burke’s Ducks Unlimited Podcast conversation with Jon Deeter of Guyette & Deeter.

Over 60 items have been added to our online July auction preview! Visit our homepage or click link in comments to view the new selections. The sale will be held live July 24 & 25 in Easton, Maryland. Don’t miss anything, be sure to scroll through the entire page!

Two decoys surpass $1,000,000 at Cook Collection – Session I Lombard, Illinois – With a museum exhibit, hardbound collection book, multiple seminars, and podcast features, the anticipation had been building for months for the first offerings of the Jim and Diane Cook collection of waterfowl decoys, and the results are nothing but extraordinary. The first 138 lots from the Cook collection, grossed $7,390,260, nearly 20% over their respective high estimates, and an incredible average lot price of $53,552.61. The fireworks started with lot 1, an important wood duck by Joseph Lincoln, once owned by Dr. George Ross Starr, and what many would consider to be the centerpiece of the Cook collection. Auctioneer John Hays, former executive chairman of Christie’s, opened the bidding at $300,000 and it was slowly bid up by multiple phone bidders, finishing at $1,260,000 including premium, a new world record price for any decoy ever sold. In the many seminars hosted by Guyette and Deeter leading up to the sale, collector and advisor to the Cooks, Joe Tonelli, called the wood duck, “the most important decoy in existence”, many others agreed. When the rapturous applause had finished, lot 2, a unique preening widgeon by Elmer Crowell, made for Dr. John C. Phillips, was also opened at $300,000. After a volley of bids between 4 bidders had slowed, two long-time collectors took it to the end, with one taking it home for $1,140,000, a new world record for the maker. Those first two lots set the pace for the remainder of the sale with 28 auction records being set for different artists, 8 of which were not from the Cook collection. The two-day auction, held in conjunction with the North American Decoy Collectors Association, grossed just shy of $10,000,000 with 15 items topping $100,000 and 132 items selling for over $10,000. Visit our homepage or link in comments for auction highlights.

Thank you for helping to make our April auction one for the record books! The sale totaled just under $10 million, with two lots selling for over $1 million each! Auction highlights and photos from the event will be posted soon!

For professional soccer players it’s the World Cup, football players the Super Bowl, for cyclists it’s the Tour de France, and hockey players the Stanley Cup. In the “sport” of decoy collecting it’s this! The Jim and Diane Cook collection – Sessions I thru V, and it begins here, with our April 2026 auction. Not since the early 1970’s, with the series of auctions featuring the extensive collection of William J. Mackey Jr, has the collecting community had such an outstanding opportunity to acquire rare and important North American waterfowl decoys. While Mackey was known for quantity, the Cook’s have been and always will be known for quality and rarity. Over the last 45 years, Jim and Diane have been tremendous stewards of these important artifacts and now the caretaking of these works will be spread among the collecting community. Like many important pieces from the Mackey auctions, some of these decoys may not be offered again for decades, if ever. To say that we at Guyette and Deeter are honored to have been chosen to handle the sale of this collection for the Cook family, would be a gross understatement. For more than 40 years our organization has pushed itself to serve the collecting community in the best ways possible, both sellers and buyers. We understand the magnitude of this event within the history of the decoy market and have made a tremendous effort into introducing the collecting world to the Jim and Diane Cook collection. Session I of our auction begins this Thursday; if you haven’t placed your bids yet, today is the day! Call Riley: 440-708-4748, Zac: 207-321-8091, or Jon: 440-610-1768 to get your bids in for this historic event.

How much do you think this wood duck will go for now? 🦆💰 One of the most important moments in the history of decoy collecting is about to unfold. Host Katie Burke sits down with Jon Deeter of Guyette & Deeter Auction Company to talk about the legendary Jim & Diane Cook Collection — a 400‑piece assemblage widely regarded as the most valuable and significant decoy collection ever assembled. Offered this April at the NADCA show, the collection represents a once‑in‑a‑generation achievement, spanning nearly every major carving region in North America. In this episode, Jon shares the story of Jim Cook — visionary entrepreneur, passionate waterfowler, and early conservationist — whose keen eye, resources, and relentless pursuit of quality helped shape a collection that may never be equaled again. This isn’t just an auction. It’s history in the making. 🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform. 📺 Or watch on YouTube! The Ducks Unlimited Podcast | Brought to you by @proplan and @birddogwhiskey

Ira Hudson never achieved any level of great financial wealth, however, the family never seemed to be deprived of a comfortable existence. Family was very important to Ira and, even in his later years, he enjoyed getting together with them on Sundays. His success was due in part to Hudson’s willingness to do whatever was necessary to provide for their well-being. He clammed, fished, oystered, and raised his own chickens. He built boats, took on carpentry projects, and he carved decoys. It is this last endeavor that brought him some degree of fame during his life, and even higher acclaim after his death. He hand chopped all his early decoys. In 1940, because the family had no electricity in their home, he acquired his first gas powered band saw. His earliest decoys were his work alone but in later years, family members, most notably two of his sons, Norman and Delbert, would assist in the finishing and painting of the birds. In Ira’s mind, he was not creating “art” but rather utilitarian objects that were needed to attract the migrating flocks of ducks and geese. He certainly possessed an artistic flair as is evidenced in some of his finest working pieces, and it is evident in his decorative flying and standing carvings. Our April auction begins next Thursday! It features some excellent examples by Ira. Call our office at 410-745-0485 to place your bids today!

Cameron McIntyre was born in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1968. He grew up in a house filled with antique decoys from notable makers such as Ben Holmes, John Dilley, Nathan Cobb, Lee Dudley, Joe Lincoln, Alvirah Wright, the Caines Brothers, Lem and Steve Ward, and Ira Hudson. Cameron was enthralled with decoys from the start and tried his hand at decoy carving in 1977 at the age of nine. He went on to study art at the University of South Carolina and, later, life drawing, figure, and landscape painting at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, where he studied under notable southern artist William McCullough. He also studied briefly with Russell Chatham, who has been called the “greatest living landscape painter in America.” Cameron moved to Virginia’s Eastern Shore in 1989 and set an early goal to try and create birds that exhibit the same sense of craftsmanship, form, paint, and patina that he admired on the many great antique birds he had studied. He also made a point to visit as many great collections as possible and has traveled all over the United States and Canada, visiting such collectors as Bud Ward, James McCleery, Lloyd Griffith, Donal O’Brien, Joe Tonelli, Vance Strausburg, William Purnell, Bruce Malcolm, Paul Brisco, Henri Wedell, Henry Stansbury, Sam Dyke, and others. Now, Cameron has been carving full-time for 30 years. His decoys are known for their mastery of form and patina, freely combining elements from all the decoys he has so passionately studied. He is proud that his creations can be found in many of the finest collections in the US and Canada, displayed alongside some of the greatest decoys ever carved. Some excellent examples by Cameron will be on the auction block during session 2 of our auction next week.

The rugged shoreline of Maine encompasses a myriad of somewhat isolated coves, peninsulas, and islands that housed small communities of independent, self-reliant farmers and fishermen. These inhabitants were intimately familiar with the ocean and knew the haunts and habits of its creatures well. Decoys were a necessary tool when pursuing the migrating birds offshore, and the carvers knew what to impart into the form and paint of their decoys in order to be successful. There was no common convention in the style of these decoys however, and everyone created his own version of what he thought a decoy should be. Individual expression was the norm. They were simply tools, however, some carvers unconsciously imparted their own creative or artistic flair into their work so that the results were not only functional but pleasing to the eye as well. Unfortunately, many of these creations are the work of makers that remain anonymous today. With a handful of notable exceptions, few carvers produced decoys in any sizable numbers. Most rigs were the result of a singular production event and the strings were added to only as individual decoys were lost or became damaged beyond repair. The time needed to produce the decoy was not an issue. The long, cold, harsh winters along the Maine coast allowed ample opportunity for each maker to devote himself to the carving and painting of his decoys. There were three basic tenets, however, that each carver soon came to realize. To be functional the decoys needed to be rugged; to endure they had to be simple; and to be seen they had to be large. As a general rule, the rigs were not large and tended to remain in the family, destined to live out their final years in the lofts of remote fishing shacks or boat houses. Our April auction begins next Thursday, and features some excellent examples from the Maine coast.

Enoch Reindahl began to carve in the 1920s. Initially, he made his decoys exclusively for his own use but, over the years, a small number of close friends or acquaintances convinced him to produce a few birds for them. He was very friendly with his Stoughton neighbors, the Homme brothers, "Ferd" (1900 – 1963) and Mandt (1905 – 1964) and the three men undoubtedly traded carving and painting ideas with one another. Reindahl's total output is estimated to only be about 100 decoys. Frugal and resourceful, at one point c1952, he was hunting, and a large number of snow geese were seen overhead but they would not respond to his Canada goose decoys. That evening, he took three of the Canadas home, re-carved their bills and repainted them as snows. It is unknown if he actually managed to harvest any of the large white birds the following day but, on a positive note, the decoy community can now enjoy a few limited examples of a very rare species by Reindahl. He was never wealthy but remained a self-sufficient, independent, and proud individual who left a legacy of some of the very finest decoys ever to emerge from Wisconsin. Our April sale features some excellent examples from this Wisconsin carver. Visit our homepage now to view the entire sale.

The Ward brothers were born, raised, worked and died in the “town built on oyster shells”. They were surrounded by men who made their living on the water harvesting the abundant shellfish, crabs and other bounty that the Bay provided. Hunting was a way of life, not just for sport, but as a means of putting food on the table. Their father was a waterman-turned barber and that became the trade that was to sustain both Steve and Lem for many years. Both brothers enjoyed hunting, especially waterfowling, and that required decoys. Like others in the community, they made their own. Even with Lem’s physical deformities that he had since birth, the decoys the brothers produced were different, they were better, far better. Orders began to flow into their barber/carving shop. Being perfectionists, their work saw a constant evolution of design changes, all resulting in decoys that appealed both to the ducks and the hunters. With time, the business grew to the point where it surpassed their income as barbers, and the brothers began to focus on their carvings. Steve is said to have been the carver and businessman and Lem the artist and painter but, in reality, they were a team, working together to produce the decoys that were now their sole source of income. With the rise in “new and improved” materials in decoys following WWII, the demand for working wooden decoys began to wane and the brothers seamlessly made the transition to decorative carvings. During their lifetimes they did manage to achieve recognition and fame but never wealth. In 1974 they were awarded honorary doctorate degrees by Salisbury State College and, in 1979, Lem was named a “Living State Legend” by Governor Huges for the contributions he made to American Folk Art. In 1983 he was made a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow. Today, the Ward’s are remembered for producing some of the most exceptional decoys, not only from Maryland, but from anywhere in North America. Our April auction features some excellent examples from the Ward Brothers. Visit our homepage to view the entire sale now.

“I first met Joe Ellis when we were doing the American Folk Art Show in New York City 30+ years ago. He told me he was a “birder” and he showed interest in some Crowell miniature bird carvings we were offering and purchased one, a redhead drake. We continued to see Joe at various antique shows where we sold him a couple more miniatures. Joe became a dedicated customer. We hit it off, and Joe and Barbara invited us to their home in Manhattan where Joe was amassing a modest collection of miniature bird carvings. This led to conversations about his growing interest and acquisition of what became the seminal collection of miniature bird carvings with a strong emphasis on Elmer Crowell and other major, often New England, carvers. In 2009, Joe published his “bible” on miniature bird carving, “Birds in Wood and Paint”. I’ve always treasured his endorsement on our copy, “To my good friend, Russ. You made so much of this possible. With thanks, Joe.” – Russ Goldberger We are honored to have been chosen to represent the Joseph Ellis collection. Session I will be offered in our April sale, and includes some excellent examples by Jess Blackstone, Harold Gibbs, and Augustus “Gus” Wilson. Visit our homepage for a special look at the full collection of Blackstone and Gibbs carvings.