Pekin Duck Decoy

Dateca.1880-1910

MediumCast iron and paint

DimensionsOverall: 5 1/8 x 6 1/8 x 13 3/16in. (13 x 15.5 x 33.5cm)

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1931.802.1

DescriptionCast iron decoy in the shape of the upper half of a duck, with a mold seam running lengthwise across its top. Painted white with orange-yellow eyes and beak.
Label TextOf the many virtues of iron, buoyancy cannot be claimed, so it may be surprising or amusing to see a duck-hunting decoy cast in the metal. Until outlawed in the United States in 1918, these iron decoys were used for "sink box" hunting. This method required the hunter to be hidden in a watertight box sunk to its top at some distance offshore. Projections called "wings" were attached to the top of the box on all sides, and were weighted down with enough painted iron decoys to sink it to the waterline, making the box and its occupant invisible to the intended quarry. This highly successful method allowed for dozens, if not hundreds, of birds to be shot at a time, posing a great threat to the hunted species of ducks.

While this decoy may have started out as a weight for sink box hunting, its paint scheme suggests otherwise. A white body and a yellow beak identify it as an American Pekin, a common domestic duck known to bond with humans. Whether raised for meat and eggs or kept as a pet, these ducks weren't wild, and wouldn't have been the target of a hunter's lure. After sink box hunting was declared illegal, it was transformed into a useful household fixture, much like the affable duck it mimics.

ProvenancePurchased by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller in the early 1930s from Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y. who stated the decoy was collected in Ephrata, PA.

Exhibition(s)