Mr. Webster Golden Plover

Mr. Webster Nantucket, MA, c. 1850 10 in. long

This early plover with a sharp tail cut is among the best of its kind from the iconic Webster rig. It has resided on the island since it was made over a century and a half ago. Created in an upright posture, the swooping lines of this alert siren are on full display.

Early collectors Donal C. O’Brien Jr., William J. Mackey Jr., Adele Earnest, and Dr. Peter Muller all believed that the plover from this rig were some of the finest works of American folk art they had ever come across.

Indeed, Mackey and Donal O’Brien hunted down and acquired fifteen of the seventeen examples that surfaced. The majority continue to reside in the Donal O’Brien Collection and one can be seen in Mackey and Weiler’s "Classic Shorebird Decoys" portfolio.

The rig is consistent in paint, depicted in bold breeding plumage; however, each bird's form is slightly different and the maker's free-hand approach produced a lively flock with no two birds exactly alike.

No survey of Nantucket shorebirds would be complete without an example of Webster's contributions to American folk art. Original paint with light gunning wear.

Provenance: Franklin Folger Webster Collection Allan "Rocket" Royal Collection, acquired from the above Stephen B. O'Brien Sr. Collection, acquired from the above in 1975

Literature: Milton C. Weiler, "The Classic Decoy Series: A Portfolio of Paintings," New York, NY, 1969, pl. 2, rigmate illustrated. William Doyle Galleries, “Waterfowl and Shorebird Decoys,” New York, NY, April 15, 1981, back cover and p. 61, lot 76, rigmate illustrated twice. Joe Engers, “Dr. Peter J. Muller: Bringing a good eye and an artistic approach to decoy collecting,” Decoy Magazine, January/February 2008, p. 8, rigmate illustrated. Robert Shaw, "Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D.," Houston, TX, 1992, p. 13, related example illustrated. Richard A. Bourne Co., Inc., "Very Rare and Important American Bird Decoys from the Collection of the late William J. Mackey Jr. of Belford, New Jersey," Hyannis, MA, 1973, Session III, lot 320, rigmate illustrated. Jeff Waingrow, “The American Decoy: Folk Sculpture from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Donal C. O’Brien Jr.,” The Clarion: America’s Folk Art Magazine, Fall 1981, p. 30, rigmate illustrated. Jackson Parker, “O’Brien Classic Decoys on Display at Museum of American Folk Art,” North American Decoys Magazine, Spring/Summer 1982, p. 34, rigmate illustrated. Laurence Sheehan, "The Sporting Life," New York, NY, 1992, p. 79, two rigmates illustrated. Copley Fine Art Auctions, "The Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection of Important American Sporting Art and Decoys, Sessions I-II," July 27, 2017, inside front cover, six rigmates illustrated in Donal O’Brien’s living room.

Provenance

Franklin Folger Webster Collection Allan "Rocket" Royal Collection, acquired from the above Stephen B. O'Brien Sr. Collection, acquired from the above in 1975