Wooden Counterfeits
 

I thought I'd start a thread for forum members to show us some of their collection of wooden counterfeits.

Many here have an interest in decoys, some here are even serious collectors. Tastes and styles vary. I have an eclectic collection that varies from antique gunning decoys to contemporary duck decoys, songbirds and raptors. I'll start it off with a pair of King Eiders carved by Paul Dittman from Wisconsin . . . now let's see some of yours!

Decoys
 

Greg and others a friend has a web site with pictures and identification of Wisconsin decoys. May be of interest. wisconsinsportingcollectables.com

J. Ahearn

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9341

as far as "collection" I have a few- mostly factory, wildfowler, Ken Harris and a few unknowns

pretty basic selection - I'll get some pictures

but--- does cork count? - they are not vintage - but here are mine at work

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=8499

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=8497

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=8498

here is a well worn one - any one have any ideas of origin

i thought this one was a bit unusual and brought it home in spite of the condition -how many times did a sleeper merganser get used to wear the paint off. thought it deserve to retire to under a lamp

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9334

how about a couple other unknowns - no marking at all

this one - to me at least - has a bit of a Stratford Ct look to it- but I'm far from really knowing what I am talking about with vintage blocks- unfortunately- looks like some paint was added- as with many i get - i liked the head shape

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9330

and this one in a total unknown - maybe just the product of someone carving his own-
has just a couple pellet strikes - so it was used before sitting some place where it got a very few white paint splatters - I liked the head and thought the body well done- its cork, but well sealed before painting

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9338

Those are both great birds. I like the heads and overall lines

I collect the old working decoys ducks geese & shore birds mainly the east coast,any decoys from Maine down to the Carolina's now have 75 decoys finding them is the most fun. J.J.

Well, by golly . . . let's see 'em!

another view of that first black duck

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9339


and a Wildfowler magnum black

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9331

ok guys - i could keep going for a bit

but lets see some others


I see mine all the time :rolleyes:

Green Wing Teal pair by Ben Shostak of New London, WI

A few.
A Trudel hollow Coot

A Paw Paw Green Wing

An Evans Red Head from Ladysmith, Wi

A Voight made from Cameron, Wi. Came with a SBT last year

That Coot is too cute!

Two pix of birds in my cabin.
The first has a Madison Mitchell goose which has never been in the water. It is set on a pedestal of 3" Winchester shells
Second is a nasty black duck which I bought because of the unique keel/weighting arrangement. The bird has two screw eyes on the bottom flanks with a v shaped piece of rod holding a thimble sized piece of lead, In the stored position, The thimble is pocketed into the floor of the decoy, and held in place by a screen door hasp. Guaranteed to be self-righting.

The two right hand birds are attributed to a St Claire Flats carver named Budgeon St. Pierre. Repaints which were owned by my best friend's Dad.

In the second picture are a pair of Mallards I carved, (Cedar bodies, basswood heads) and entered in a working decoy competition. They were the first birds taken out of the tank, but they are still mine

Wolf River Woodies sculpture by Thomas Tyers of Oshkosh, WI

While at an antique store over the weekend there was "an early Mason" decoy that was a Canvasback. I asked to look at it then saw the price $875:eek:

Which model

Better model. Glass eye & very good paint.

Might not be out of line

It didn't mention any particular model and I don't recall if it had glass eyes or not. I know that a Mason decoy can bring big bucks but this wasn't in that good of condition. There was another Mason there for under $200.

Yeah. Not a mason collector. But I know there are several grades. Each finished better than the last. And then with in the grades there is rarity to be concerned with

So a rare bird in a better model will command a price that might seem out of line to the "uninitiated". Serious decoy collecting is like serious gun collecting


Better know your stuff

It was a very cold day in November when a friend and I were set up in a shore blind on the Colic Slough off Wisconsin's Wolf River. The winds were blowing hard, the grey clouds were moving fast and skim ice was forming along the shoreline when a small flock of seven Green Wing Teal came screaming over the trees from behind and swooped down low over our blocks out in front of us. They kept right on a-goin' never to be seen again. But, it was that sound . . . oh, that sound . . . of the wind swishing and rustling through their wings and feathers that only a duck hunter can appreciate. Those sights and sounds are forever etched in my mind.

It was THAT DAY, it was THAT SIGHT and it was THOSE SOUNDS that inspired me to ask Robert Mitchell of Ashville, NC to carve these GWT flyers. Each and every time I look at them I relive the moments . . . I hope it never ends.

A few years back $875 would have been a "low ball" price on any decent Mason block. Rick you would be surprised and how many merganser dekes were used for whatever reason. When I was making and selling decoys the most I sold were Blacks & Mallards followed by Brant and then Mergansers. While collecting for a longggg time I have noticed that Mergansers(shelldrakes on LI) always brought good money, especially among women buyers/collectors. Rick your 2 black ducks are great examples and the heads are definitely Shang Wheeler Connecticut style. Very nice finds.

thanks George

i do have one brant - a wildfowler in pretty good paint

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9333

and this is one of my favorite geese

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9329

folks on the duckboats,net seemed to lean towards it being by Jimmy Bowden

These are a little different...

first, a good ol' barnyard pigeon decoy; gunning those ol' flying rats gotta be some fun...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psrnzke4sy.jpg

next, a starling decoy; ditto...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psfzxykpml.jpg

both carved by William W. Headrick and shot over, he says, by himself, Pop Headrick, and one Michael McIntosh.

Then, a yellowlegs flattie, also by Bill...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psmmcxqtcg.jpg

and lastly, a tinnie, c. 1874-81...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...pszwxa7fb3.jpg

Two life-size carvings standing guard over my Parker Bros. D-Grade toplever Hammergun. The Redtailed Hawk and Peregrine Falcon are poised to scratch and claw the eyeballs out of any nefarious intruder with ill intentions.

sure is some nice decoys you fellows have...i ve got my dads old mallard decoys he hunted the hurricon marsh with thes decoys in the early 1950 s...no makers name on them made out of some kinda light wood they do have glass eyes....charlie

Here are a few pics of my decoy collection to be continued.
JJ Roberts

I'm not a duck hunter any more and am certainly not a decoy collector. However, my wife came home with a decoy she thought handsome as a bit of decor. It is signed:

Redhead
W. Wandelt
Baldwin
L.I. NY

Can you guys tell me anything about it?

Some pictures would help.

I should have known better. Here you go. It is 14" long x 7" wide and seems heavy to be a working decoy.

I have been collecting decoys for 40+ years way before vintage SxS's. I collect NJ shore carvers, Delaware River carvers and Bert Graves (circa 1920'-1930's) from Peoria one of the top Illinois River carvers. A few pictures of a sampling of my Graves Decoys. Enjoy!!

Garig,Thanks for sharing your decoys,hope to see more.:cool: J.J.

the photography is nicely done Craig

A few more
Graves Black CJC brand
Dan Englsh Black
Jess Heisler Sleeper
Rhodes Truex Black
HV Shourds Black
Jess Heisler Black

A couple of Woodcock. The first was carved by Thomas Tyers. The flyer was carved by Robert Mitchell and shown with a custom Fox.

factory decoy
 

it was a duck hunting weekend in the antique shops- found an old Pennsylvania Game Commission waterfowl ID book- with nice reproductions of what seem to be watercolor paintings of the various species- i thought about taking it apart to frame some - but its in too nice condition to break up. and got the contact info for a J. Eugene Hendrickson swimming black duck that seems to have never seen water - so- may go for that one soon

a couple other odds and ends - but found this lathe turned hen mallard - i assume Victor or Pascagoula (but the speculum is off for those i think) - obviously the base is not original - paint is old - but i am curious if its original or someone dressed it up for display - looks to have been never used and was a display piece out of an estate of a banking family, the name with the decoy was the son of the founder and president of the bank in the early 1900's - not sure yet when he passed - but the bank's webpage states he and the rival bank's president (the two merged during the depression) were great hunting partners.

anyway- looking for opinions - seems like fancy paint job for the lathe style decoy - it has glass eyes - and I already had a very similar drake in great paint that had been lightly hunted - so the two will shelve as a pair

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9350

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9351

I've been informed that this is a Victor Animal Trap decoy. It has its original paint and I believe that it has never been in the water. Almost looks like it could be the mate to your hen Rick, although yours appears a little snakey and has more detail in the paint.

thanks Greg- that is a very clean example- still has the neck ring - most i see are missing the putty used to cover the joint

but, look at the speculum on yours - not too long and the back white line is at a steep angle and for the Pascagoula examples i see on line they almost come to a V

the hen I have has a longer patch and parallel lines - much like the drake I have does (he has a few dings- but is pretty good for his age)

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9352

on my two -drake's tail comes to a point and is a little thinner top to bottom- the hen's tail is a little more rounded -


not to get too deep in the weeds on something as mundane as a lathe made decoy- but I love a mystery - and this gentleman was known as a serious hunter and lived just down the road from where I gun- might I be in his footsteps when a big drake comes over? :rolleyes:

Here's another a decoy with provenance . . . from the rig of Conrad Sundeen is this Wood Duck Drake carved by Jim Slack of Pekin, IL. Mr. Sundeen was the proprietor of Von Lengerke & Antoine sporting goods store in Chicago.

from this weekend's rambling
not high end - but i like the factory "field grades"-- sort of like most my guns

Wildfowler geese ( bearing the Point Pleasant NJ stamp) a low and higher head with pretty good paint (the setting sun broke through just in time to cast an orange glow :rolleyes: )

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9483

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9482