James Holly Canvasback Pair

James T. Holly (1855-1935) Havre de Grace, MD, c. 1900 Most decoy experts consider this iconic pair of Holly canvasbacks to be the finest pair of Upper Chesapeake Bay decoys ever to come to market. The pair introduces the Maryland chapter of The Great Book of Decoys, and is described as “among the finest Upper Chesapeake decoys known.” McCleery’s Call to the Sky features these decoys at the start of the Maryland section, referring to the birds as “a peerless pair.” And Upper Bay decoy scholar C. John Sullivan describes and highlights the “exquisitely painted pair by John ‘Daddy’ Holly” in his Decoy Magazine article “The Hollys of Havre de Grace: The Innovators of the Harford County Style.” Both decoys are in excellent original paint with light even craquelure and appealing patina. Each bird has minor rubs and a single tight age crack at the neck. The drake has wear to wood around the dowel on head.

Provenance: Walter Bush Collection, New Jersey Gifted to the Staten Island Museum Collection from the above Acquired by Bud Ward from the above, c. 1980 Dr. James McCleery Collection Private Collection

Literature: Sotheby's and Guyette & Schmidt, Inc., American Waterfowl Decoys: The Distinguished Collection of Dr. James M. McCleery, New York, NY, Jan. 2000, lot, 198, p. 95. Robert Shaw, Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D., Houston, TX, 1992, pp. 70-71, exact birds illustrated. Joe Engers, ed., The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys, San Diego, CA, 1990, pp. 138, exact birds illustrated. C. John Sullivan, “The Hollys of Havre de Grace: The Innovators of the Harford County Style,” Decoy Magazine, Lewes, DE, Jan/Feb 1992, pp. 8-13

Provenance

Walter Bush Collection, New Jersey Gifted to the Staten Island Museum Collection from the above Acquired by Bud Ward from the above, c. 1980 Dr. James McCleery Collection Private Collection