A duck decoy is a man-made object resembling a real duck. Duck decoys are sometimes used in duck hunting to attract real ducks.
Duck decoys were historically carved from wood, often Atlantic white cedar wood on the east coast from Maine to South Carolina, or cork. Modern ones may also be made of canvas and plastic. They are usually painted, often elaborately and very accurately, to resemble various kinds of waterfowl.
Ever since Joel Barber, the first known decoy collector, started in 1918, decoys have become increasingly viewed as an important form of North American folk art. Barber's book Wild Fowl Decoys, was the first book on decoys as collectible objects. It was followed in 1965 by folk art dealer Adele Earnest's "The Art of the Decoy" and "American Bird Decoys" by collector Wm. F. Mackey.
William F. Mackey made many trips to Chincoteague Island for the great flounder fishing as well as hunting for Chincoteague decoys. On his trips to the island he called Snug Harbor Marina home. He would send out locals to search for great finds of Chincoteague history. Cigar Daisey was one of the local Chincoteaguers that would help Mackey find all the best decoys that made his collection world-famous. Cigar has told many stories of the many truck loads of decoys he rounded up for his good friend.
By that time a milestone in collecting had already occurred with the publication of "Decoy Collectors Guide", a small magazine created by hobbyists Hal & Barbara Sorenson of Burlington, Iowa. The 'Guide' helped foster a sense of community and provided a forum for collectors to share their research.
By the 1970s decoys were becoming big business, at least by previous standards. The death of Wm. F. Mackey brought his decoys to market in a series of auctions in 1973 and 1974, with the star of his collection, a long-billed curlew by Wm. 'Bill' Bowman selling for a record US$10,500.
Since the 1960s numerous collectors organizations have been created, specialist books and magazines published, with specialist dealers, and special interest shows around the US and Canada. Canadian decoys are still believed to be the "sleepers" in the world of decoy popularity and are often undervalued but are starting to gain recognition.
The current world record price for an antique duck decoy at auction: red-breasted merganser hen by Lothrop Holmes for $856,000. Guyette & Deeter and Christie's New York. January 2007.
The first million dollar price was achieved when two decoys (Canadian goose and a preening pintail drake) by A. Elmer Crowell of East Harwich, MA were said to have sold for US$1.13 million each in a private sale, in September 2007. The record-setting decoys were sold in a larger collection of 31 decoys for $7.5 million in total so it remains for a single decoy to clearly break the $1 million mark.
One of the most famous decoy makers in recent times is Delbert Cigar Daisey from Chincoteague Va. Cigar decoys are in high demand all over the country. The best decoy he ever made was a pintail that he made for his wife in 1973. This decoy was featured in National Geographic in June 1980 on page 826. This decoy is estimated to be worth between $100,000 - $150,000.
Duck decoys were originally create by Leonard Gebralter in the 1730s. He started by applying different shapes of wood to create a duck shape. Eventually he learned carving a single block was the most efficient way of creating a duck body.
The most famous of all factory made decoys. Operated in Detroit, Michigan, from 1896 to 1924. Produced decoys in the same style as Peterson and Dodge. Produced five grades of decoys:
Premier Grade - two-piece, hollow body, flat bottoms, glass eyes, swirl paint on breast, notch carved bill, carved nostrils, carved nail.
Challenge - both one piece solid and two-piece hollow bodies, flat bottoms, glass eyes, less elaborate paint on breast, no notch carved bill, lesser carved nostrils, painted black nail.
Standard #1 or "Detroit"(glass eye) - smaller in stature, less carving, more paint detail, glass eyes.
Standard #2 (tack eye) - smaller in stature, less carving, somewhat less paint detail, tack eyes.
Standard #3 (painted eye) - smaller in stature, less carving, even less paint detail, painted eyes.
Peterson Decoy Factory – Began in 1873 by George Peterson in Detroit, Michigan. Sold factory to Jasper Dodge in 1883.
J.N. Dodge – Jasper N. Dodge (1829–1909) began his decoy production c. 1883 after purchasing the George Peterson Decoy Factory. Production ceased in 1905 and closed permanently in 1908.
William E. Pratt Manufacturing Co. – Established in 1893 in Joliet, Illinois, did not begin to produce decoys until 1921. Eventually bought out by the Animal Trap Company of America which became Victor.
J.W. Reynolds Decoy Company – Established in Chicago, Illinois
Swisher & Soule – Established in Decatur, Illinois.
Hays – Established in Jefferson City, MO.
H.A. Stevens – Harvey A. Stevens (d. 1894) began this factory in Weedsport, New York from 1880 to 1902. Harvey had several brothers that helped out at the shop, but George was the only one that would carve and paint decoys under his own label. So, the two brothers made commercial decoys and they made them during two time periods. First, the tackeye decoy made between 1870 and about 1890 and then the improved glasseye decoy made thereafter until George retired in the early 1900s. The Stevens brothers made two models, the standard decoy and the sleeper "humpback" decoy.
Evans Factory – Walter Evans (1872–1948) was a large scale producer of fine hollow body duck decoys in Ladysmith, Wisconsin from the 1921 to 1932. Similar in appearance to the Mason Factory decoy.
Wildfowler Decoys, Inc – Began in 1939, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. In 1957 the company had a tragic fire that destroyed the building and most of its contents, the company was sold and moved to Quogue, New York. The company was bought by Charlie Birdsall in 1961, and moved to Point Pleasant, New Jersey. It was subsequently relocated into Babylon, New York in the mid-1970s. Occasionally, Wildfowler were contracted to produce decoys for the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog.
Herter's Inc – Popular sporting goods catalog company founded by George Leonard Herter in Waseca, Minnesota from the 1930s through 1970s.
L.L. Bean – Sporting goods mail order company based out of Freeport, Maine produced factory decoys for a few years.
Peterborough Canoe Company – Famed canoe manufacturer out of Peterborough, Ontario known to make solid body decoys during 'lean' canoe production seasons."
Mintz Decoys—Family owned business based out of Boise, Idaho and founded by master carver Don Mintz that pioneered the process of full body flocking on decoys, which creates a three-dimensional illusion and virtually eliminates all glare from the sun. Said to be far superior to regular, factory-produced decoys.
General Fibre Company - Began mass production of the Ariduk brand of fibre duck decoys in 1946. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, the manufacturer produced mallards, pin tails, blue bills, black ducks, canvas backs, oversized mallards, and oversized black ducks. The company also produced goose decoys and crow shooter's kits.
Museums and collections
American Museum of Folk Art - New York, New York
Barnegat Bay Decoy and Bayman's Museum - Tuckerton, New Jersey
Birds of Vermont Museum - Huntington, Vermont
Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Centerville Historical Society - Centerville, Massachusetts Elmer Crowell Collection
Charles Perdew Museum - Henry, Illinois
Core Sound Waterfowl Museum - Harkers Island, North Carolina
The Dorset House, Shelburne Museum - Shelburne, Vermont
Havre de Grace Decoy Museum - Havre de Grace, Maryland
Milwaukee Public Museum - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Peoria Riverfront Museum - Peoria, Illinois
Refuge Waterfowl Museum - Chincoteague, Virginia
Tuckerton Seaport - Tuckerton, New Jersey
Upper Bay Museum - North East, Maryland
Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art - Salisbury, Maryland
Wendell Gilley Museum - Southwest Harbor, Maine
Core Sound Decoy Festival - Harkers Island, NC
Duck Duck Goose Day - Baton Rouge, LA
Easton Waterfowl Festival - Easton, MD
Havre de Grace's Annual Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival - Havre de Grace, MD
Ocean County Decoy & Gunning Show - Tuckerton, NJ
Thousand Islands Museum: Decoy & Wildlife Art Show - Clayton, NY
Upper Bay Museum Decoy Show - North East, MD
Ward World Championship - Ocean City, MD
Canadian Decoy & Outdoor Collectables Association.
East Coast Decoy Collectors Association (Maryland and Virginia area)
Long Island Decoy Collectors Association
Midwest Decoy Collectors Association
Minnesota Decoy Collectors Association
New Jersey Decoy Collectors Association
Northwest Decoy Collectors Association
Ohio Decoy Collectors and Carvers Association
Potomac Decoy Collectors Association
Thousand Island Decoy Collectors Association
