Elmer Crowell Complete Set of Twenty-five Waterfowl Carvings

A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) East Harwich, MA, c. 1915 A very early custom set by "the father of bird carving," this group represents an opportunity for the serious collector of Americana to obtain perhaps the finest complete set of Crowell miniature waterfowl carvings ever offered at auction.

Crowell's typical list for a set of twenty-five waterfowl carvings included a merganser hen, a mallard hen, a bluebill hen and a bufflehead drake. In this set, however, these species are replaced by a goldeneye hen, a green-winged teal, a surf scoter drake and an eider drake. The last two species are rarely found in any set, and are difficult to find even as individual works.

Aside from using early names like 'gooseander' and 'sheldrake' to identify the carvings on the bottom, in this set, Crowell identifies others as green teal, blue teal, "sea duck" (common eider), and "skunk scooter" (surf scoter).

Each miniature is stamped with Crowell’s "A. E. Crowell, MAKER, East Harwich, MASS" circular ink stamp, and the species is written in pencil in Crowell’s distinct cursive writing.

The set includes the following species (left to right): Pintail drake, mallard drake, American merganser drake, redhead hen, goldeneye drake, Canada goose, canvasback drake, canvasback hen, goldeneye hen, green-winged teal hen, red-breasted merganser drake, hooded merganser drake, ruddy duck drake, pintail hen, wigeon drake, brant, red-head drake, wood duck drake, oldsquaw drake, eider drake, black duck, bluebill drake, surf scoter drake, blue-winged teal drake, green-winged teal drake For their age, these carvings are in near mint condition with a few having the faintest of craquelure, mostly around their breasts and necks. The canvasback hen was never painted under the bill.

Provenance: George Abercrombie Spaulding, Boston, Massachusetts, from his South Carolina Plantation Collectable Old Decoys, South Carolina Private Collection, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Literature: A.E. Crowell “Cape Cod Memories,” in Duck Shooting along the Atlantic Tidewater, Eugene V. Connett, ed, New York, 1947, pp. 59-60. Brian Cullity, The Songless Aviary, Hyannis, MA, 1992, pp. 90-99.

Provenance

George Abercrombie Spaulding, Boston, Massachusetts, from his South Carolina Plantation Collectable Old Decoys, South Carolina Private Collection, Cape Cod, Massachusetts