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Deluxe hard cover limited edition, $100.

To order your copy, contact Ron Gard
(214) 350-2229
3804 Sleepy Lane,
Dallas, TX 75229
jgard@mac.com

The McCleery Auction

Edited by Ronald J. Gard and Robert Shaw

The McCleery Auction documents the January 2000 sale of the most important collection of American bird decoys ever assembled. The $11,000,000 New York auction of the collection of Dr. James. M. McCleery by Sotheby's and Guyette and Schmidt Inc. was a seminal event in the history of decoy collecting, bringing world-wide attention to decoys as works of art and establishing astonishing new levels of value for classic works.

"Because of the McCleery auction, the world at large now knows about decoys," says Nancy Druckman, Senior Vice President, American Folk Art at Sotheby's. "The prices that were achieved equal those for Winslow Homer watercolors, Remington bronzes, and other important examples of American fine and decorative art." Joe Engers, editor of Decoy Magazine adds, "There has never been and will never be another decoy auction that impacts us so. The McCleery sale elevated decoys to a new level. Great decoys, which many of us consider the finest of American folk arts, will never be overlooked again. For that, we can thank Jim McCleery." And, according to Frank Schmidt of Guyette and Schmidt, Inc., "Dr. McCleery's collection was essentially the center of the universe around which everything else revolved. It was a benchmark by which every other collector measured the potential value and importance of his or her own collection."

Edited by decoy experts and authors Ronald J. Gard and Robert Shaw, The McCleery Auction brings together all of the major press reports about the collection and the sale, including stories from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Houston Chronicle, Forbes, Maine Antique Digest, Antiques and the Arts Weekly, Decoy Magazine, and dozens of other newspapers and magazines. The stories are complemented with new essays by Dr. McCleery's daughters Karen and Cathy, Nancy Druckman of Sotheby's, Frank Schmidt of Guyette and Schmidt Inc., legendary collector William Mackey's daughter Kathryn, and Ron Gard, who was Dr. McCleery's closest friend. In addition, the book includes the richly informative seminar presentations of decoy experts Robert Shaw, Joseph B. French, Lloyd Tayloe Griffith, Ron Gard, Alan Haid, and Joe and Donna Tonelli, as well as a unique 1988 interview with Dr. McCleery that offers special insight into his collecting. The book is illustrated throughout with over 100 beautiful photographs of prizes from the McCleery collection, photos of Dr. McCleery, and pictures of the auction itself.

Packed with information, opinions, advice, and above all, fabulous decoys, The McCleery Auction is a must for anyone remotely interested in decoys or collecting. Whether you are a new collector, an old hand or simply curious about the art of the decoy, this book offers abundant rewards and stands as a memorial to the extraordinary passion and connoisseurship of a truly great collector-Dr. James M. McCleery.

Ronald J. Gard is the author of Isaac's Ark: The Art and Times of Isaac Smith and co-authored Ward Brothers Decoys: A Collectors Guide. An avid collector of decoys and other American folk art, he is a member of the International Advisory Board and a former trustee of the Ward Foundation and Museum. As a passionate conservationist, he also has held leadership positions with many national conservation and outdoor organizations.

Robert Shaw is the author of Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D., America's Traditional Crafts, Quilts: A Living Tradition, American Baskets, and other critically acclaimed books on American folk art. Curator of the renowned Shelburne Museum decoy and folk sculpture collections from 1981-94, he is now an independent curator and consultant to collectors, corporations, and museums worldwide.