The Art of the Decoy: American Bird CarvingsThe carved bird decoy is the only truly American folk art - for the decoy as an aid to hunting was devised by the American Indians and has grown as a useful art since the days of the colonists. Decoy-carving was developed and refined to such a degree that now early and well-carved birds are prized by collectors. This book, full of stunning photographs, shows the best examples from both public and private collections, and gives the reader an idea of the great range, vigor, and variety of the birds. There are sandpipers, curlews, ducks, geese, swans, gulls, herons, crows, loons, and many others - (loons, being wary, were used as confidence birds). Along with the birds are explanations of the highly varied and ingenious methods of construction. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
AMERICAN MERGANSER Atlantic flyway Audubon beach beak Bellport birds BLACK DUCK BLACK-BREASTED PLOVER BLUEBILL boat body brant breast BROADBILL CANADA GOOSE CANVASBACK CANVASBACK DECOY Cape Cod Captain carved carvers century Collection of author Collection of Malcolm collector color Connecticut Crowell's crows curlew decoy-carvers decoyists DOWITCHERS duck decoys ducks and geese Duxbury early decoys EIDER feathers flight floating flyway folk art fowl fowler geese GREATER YELLOWLEGS gunner head HEN AND DRAKE heron Holmes hunting Illinois Jersey Laing Laing's lived Long Island LONG-BILLED CURLEW look loon Lovelock Cave lures mallard marsh duck Massachusetts old decoys OLD SQUAW painting patterns Photo by Charles Photo by Robert PINTAIL plumage RED-BREASTED MERGANSER REDHEAD River Robert Eichler RUDDY SANDHILL CRANE SANDPIPER sculptural sea duck season shape Shelburne Museum shooting shore SHOREBIRD DECOYS snipe species stick-up Stony Point Stratford swan tail TEAL Today Wheeler WHISTLER wildfowl wing wood wooden York City