Images(5)

Decoy: Possibly a Cormorant

DateLate 19th century

OriginAmerica, New Jersey (probably)

MediumCarved and painted wood (white pine)

Dimensions11 1/2" X 17 1/4"

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1932.702.1

DescriptionThis solid carved, unusually colored decoy, is nicely fashioned producing a unique form. The body is long and oval shaped with a flat bottom. The tail is flat and vertical, standing on end. There are two large wooden pins inset into the body (purpose unknown). The nexk, head and beak are one piece, and nailed to the body. The neck and head form an "S" curve and the bill slopes downward in an amusing fashion. There are two metal tacks from eyes. The paint appears to be original. Mottled gray on buff plumage with wings outlined on body in very dark green and red mingled brush strokes. The head is painted black and bill, brown. The tail is dark red and green.
Label TextHard-carved decoys have long been favored by hunters even when factory-made birds became available after the close of the Civil War. Some examples resemble their prototypes closely while others bear only a general similarity to the species they represent. This example falls into the loosely resembles category and would have most likely been used as a confidence decoy; a fake bird that would look relaxed enough to communicate a safe location to land for inbound waterfowl.
ProvenanceDate unknown, found In Teanuck, NJ by Edith Gregor Halpert [1900-1970] of the Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y.; Date unknown, purchased by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller [1874-1948] (New York, New York); 1939, given as a gift to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)