Lothrop Holmes Exceedingly Rare Willet

Lothrop Holmes (1824-1899) Kingston, MA, c. 1875 Very few documented Holmes shorebirds have ever been offered for sale. With a split, slightly dropped tail and crisp raised wing carving. Deep "G.E.P." brand.

This bird is out of a rig commissioned by George Patterson of Salem, Massachusetts, who summered on Ipswich marsh. Patterson was a good friend of John C. Phillips, with whom he hunted on Wenham Lake. Patterson commissioned Holmes for a rig of willet, yellowlegs and black-bellied plover decoys. The rig, along with several A. Elmer Crowell decoys, was acquired by two brothers from Ipswich in 1946. After WWII this rig of Crowell and Holmes shorebirds was brought to the dump in several barrels. With the exception of a single preening Crowell black duck, a Holmes black-bellied plover and another willet--all of which reside at the Peabody-Essex Museum--this is the only other bird known to have survived out of that rig.

In superb original paint, with beautiful even craquelure, original tack eyes, two very small chips along the bottom and top of the tail sections, professional bill replacement by Gigi Hopkins.

Provenance: George Patterson Rig Peter Brams Collection

Provenance

George Patterson Rig Peter Brams Collection