Elmer Crowell Important Miniature Curlew

A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) East Harwich, MA, c. 1900 3 1/2 in. long

One of Crowell’s earliest and finest miniature shorebird carvings. The thin mottle-painted base, the style of painted feather application on the bird, and the dropped wing carving date this bird right at the turn of the twentieth century. Very few of the maker’s earliest shorebird miniatures have ever surfaced outside of those made for Dr. John C. Phillips and those collected by William V. Tripp, and two groups owned by a private Maryland Collector. Further attesting to collectors’ proclivity for this miniature species, the only Crowell miniature in the entire McCleery auction was a “Jack Curlew.” The underside of the base is marked with the maker’s round ink stamp and retains a small paper label on which “Jack Curlew” is written in Crowell’s hand. Hudsonian curlews were referred to as “jack curlews” by nineteenth-century gunners. Original paint with minor wear.

Literature: Stephen B. O'Brien, Jr. and Chelsie W. Olney, "Elmer Crowell: Father of American Bird Carving," Hingham, MA, 2019, exact bird illustrated. Sotheby's and Guyette and Schmidt, "American Waterfowl Decoys: The Distinguished Collection of Dr. James M. McCleery," New York, NY, 2000, p. 224, lot 626, related example illustrated.