Charlie "Minnow" Mahler - Mallard Pair

Updated September 3, 2026

Lot number	236
Estimate	1,200.00 - 1,800.00 USD
Auction	Fall Feature Decoy & Sporting Art Auction 2026
Date	September 26, 2026 at 10:52 PM EDT
Auction house	American Sporting Auctions
Location	Syracuse, New York

Charlie "Minnow" Mahler (1911-1967) Put-N-Bay, OH c.1932 15" long Ottawa Shooting Club mallard pair commissioned by club member, John Alexander Hadden, Sr (1886-1979) in 1932 as part of a rig of 12 Mallards and 12 Bluebills. The pair have dramatic incised carving across the backs delineating wings and feathering. Both have slightly turned heads with strong neck filler and deeply incised carving where the bills meet the face. The surfaces have mellowed nicely. "Minnow" Mahler made his way as a hunting and fishing guide based on 'Put-In-Bay' Island, an island off of Port Clinton, OH in the chain of Lake Erie Islands. The Ottawa Shooting Club was established in 1871 on the south shore of Sandusky Bay, across the bay from Winous Point. It began as the Hones Point Hunting and Fishing Club of Cleveland, organized by a group of seventy-one Cleveland sportsmen. The driving force behind the club was Louis Smithnight, a German-born Cleveland businessman and Civil War veteran who had begun making hunting and fishing trips to the area in the late 1860s. Smithnight became the club’s first president. In 1879, the organization was incorporated as the Ottawa Hunting and Fishing Club, eventually acquiring approximately 3,000 acres of marsh and surrounding land. The club attracted prominent Cleveland businessmen and sportsmen and became one of the important private hunting clubs along the southern shore of Lake Erie. A glimpse of its early sporting culture appeared in Forest and Stream in 1900, which described members drawing lots for hunting positions on opening day, with Smithnight selecting the upper end of Big Pond. Among the members were industrialists, bankers, manufacturers, and members of the White and Riddle families. From a rig of 24 decoys commissioned by Alexander Hadden Sr (1886-1975) for the famed Ottawa Shooting Club in Port Clinton, OH.Condition: Very good and original with even wear from use including some paint flaking. Both have tail chipsProvenance: Dennis Forthofer Collection

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