Creekside Art Gallery Blog

Following the purchase of an early Augustus "Gus" Wilson old squaw from the November 7-8, 2007 Guyette & Schmidt decoy auction in Easton, Maryland, we thought it would be an interesting exercise to examine the historical provenance of this rare decoy. This decision was influenced by the fact that we were aware of several prior ownerships not listed or identified in the auction catalog. Curiously, only one previous owner was mentioned, although additional data was readily available.

Usually the consignor provides the pertinent information that establishes the provenance to an auction house. According to Wikipedia, the free Internet encyclopedia, provenance is defined as "the origin or source from which something comes, and it can and should include the history of subsequent owners (also known in some fields as chain of custody). The term is also used in the sense of place and time of creation, production or discovery.

"The provenance of works of fine art, antiques and antiquities often assumes great importance. Documented evidence of provenance for an object can help establish that it is original, has not been altered and is not a forgery, reproduction, or stolen or looted art. The quality of provenance of an important artwork can make a considerable difference to its market value; this is affected by the degree of certainty of the provenance and the collective status of past owners as knowledgeable collectors. Provenance of a work of art may be recorded in various forms depending on context or the amount of information that is known, from a single name to a scholarly notation several thousand words long."

The February 2008 issue of the Maine Antique Digest quoted David Wheatcroft after his purchase of an early American redware plate for a record $351,000: "The provenance of this plate by an artist of his stature added to its appeal."

We became aware of the Wilson old squaw from illustrations in two books. The Bird Decoy, An American Art Form by Paul S. Johnsgard, published in 1976, identified the owner of the decoy at that time as Frank M. Schmidt of Maine. New England Decoys by Shirley & John Delph, published in 1981, featured the identical decoy with a different owner — the Quandy Collection, a decoy investment venture.

In 1982, on a visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we were invited to see the personal collection of Winthrop and Margaret Scott Carter. We were pleasantly surprised to encounter the same Wilson old squaw, now in their collection. We were graciously permitted to photograph the decoy for future use in several articles and books we were planning. That photo shows the decoy prior to subsequent bill restoration.

The photo caption in Johnsgard’s book indicated that the decoy was "Probably carved by Harrison E. Barry or Aaron A. Wilson.Circa 1900. Purchased from an antique dealer in Maine." The caption in Delph’s book stated, "This diminutive old squaw is attributed to H. Barry of Maine. (Quandy Collection)."

Early decoy scholarship often tended to attribute decoys by Gus Wilson (1864-1950) of South Portland that were made in the early years of his career (circa 1885-1900) to either a so far non-existent Hans Barry or to an unidentified maker. One such example is the early white-winged scoter illustrated in Plate 75 of Joel Barber’s Wild Fowl Decoys. Barber also chose to include a linear scale rendering of the scoter for an unidentified maker in Plate 42. That decoy is now recognized as a Wilson. For a while, the discussion of whether Barry or Wilson was the proper attribution for similar decoys often resulted in heated exchanges. Time and research, however, ultimately credited Wilson as the true carver of decoys produced in a range of related but differing sculptural styles, spanning a six and a half decade career.

At this point we knew from Johnsgard that Frank Schmidt owned the decoy in 1976, the Quandy Collection (John Mulak and Bob Creighton) owned it in 1981, and a year or two later it was in the collection of Win and Scotty Carter. Were there other owners?

We realized that memories fade, sometimes causing specific information to be lost. A phone conversation with John Mulak of Cape Cod corroborated his ownership, and he clearly remembered purchasing the decoy from Clarke and Jane Reed when the Reeds were on a trip to New England. He also confirmed that the Quandy Collection sold it to the Carters.

The mention of Clarke and Jane Reed was a surprise, since they are from Maryland. It was the first time their names were associated with the decoy. When later queried about this, Clarke verified that he had sold the decoy to Mulak. And, he added, he purchased it from Jay Miles sometime in the mid to late 1970s at one of the Santa Rosa, California shows. He recalled that Jay also exhibited a nice group of Maine scoters.

We contacted Jay by email, and he replied, "Yes, I remember the Wilson old squaw very well. It is one of those decoys that I have always regretted selling. I bought it from Ross Levitt, an antique dealer from northern Maine and then sold it to Frank [Schmidt]. It’s a wonderful bird and you made a great buy."

He later clarified that email by adding, "I bought the old squaw during the time I was working at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in 72-74, and as I recall I bought it from Levett who lived here in Maine. I then transferred to California…in 1974 and had it in my collection at that time. I believe I was mistaken in my initial recall of selling the old squaw to Frank. It’s been over 30 years…All I can tell you is that I remember buying it from Ross, having it in my collection for a period of time and selling (it) to Clarke Reed at the Santa Rosa Show, probably around 1974 or 75."

We were getting closer to the original discoverer, Ross Allen Levett. During a phone conversation, Ross thought back and surmised that he probably acquired the old squaw in the early to mid–1970s. He said that he often interacted with Jay Miles and Frank Schmidt at the time. Frank also added that he and Jay sometimes teamed up back then to buy and sell decoys and folk art, lots of it. They also traded decoys back and forth between themselves. Jay’s confirmation that it was purchased from an antique dealer confirmed the caption in Johnsgard’s book.

Apparently, Wilson’s old squaw wasn’t acquired by an affiliate of the decoy collecting world until about 75 years after it was created.

The photographs taken at the Carter’s in 1982 later appeared in our second book, Decoys, published in 1992. It was also published in an article titled, "Gus Wilson, Folk Artist," in the November/December 1994 issue of Decoy Magazine.

Over the years we have been students and collectors of decoys by Gus Wilson. This provides a valuable perspective and knowledge for informed judgment. At the time of the 2007 auction, we knew of only one other similar earlual Ohio Decoy Collectors and Carvers Show. It was then consigned to Guyette & Schmidt with the restorations indicated in the catalog.

The sequential expertise of diverse owners is a collective recognition of the merits of this singular and unique decoy. Establishing provenance for all decoys and other artifacts helps prevent the unnecessary loss of historically relevant information. Human memories are too fuzzy when first questioned about exact dates, names and places. Whenever possible, corroborate facts with more than one source. It was relatively simple to trace the chronological chain of ownership to the time when this Wilson old squaw first entered the gallery of collections. And now we’ll be added to that list.

It is presently not known where this fine old squaw was for seventy years after it left Gus Wilson’s workbench around 1900. That information may have been forever lost; perhaps photos or documentation may come to light in the future. The known lineal provenance of the decoy picks up again when antiques dealer Ross Allen Levett finds the bird in the early 1970s. He sold it to either Jay Miles or Frank Schmidt, or the two of them working together. Jay eventually sold it to Clarke and Jane Reed who later sold it to John Mulak and Bob Creighton working together as the Quandy Collection. Then Winthrop and Margaret Carter enjoyed the bird for a number of years until shortly after Win’s passing when it was sold to Russ and Karen Goldberger. In 2007 Gene and Linda Kangas purchased the old squaw through the Guyette and Schmidt auction house.

As published in Decoy Magazine, January/February 2008