DELAWARE RIVER VS JERSEY STYLE DECOYS

J

Justin Harrison

Active member
for the uneducated, what is considered the "defining" difference in the 2 styles. i've gotten very interested in both styles (particularly the delaware river) but some of the old school decoys seem very similar....

i know this is probably an easy question, but i'm just starting to accumulate literature regarding the older decoys and am curious.

-justin
 
Aww man, I thought this was gonna be like a "Ford Vs Chevy" thread LOL...........with buffleheads and mergansers punching it out.................


Truth be told the Jersey coastal style(actually several sub-styles too) has alot in common with thier river counterparts. Both usually hollow, smaller in size and well shaped. Biggest difference is the river puddlers usually have raised wing carving (note Blair as the exception).

Other differences are in carving detail( i.e. fluted tails, carved speculum, and tertials), paint detail and rigging. The river birds generally had more of all three. The river rigs were smaller and often carved and hunted by the maker for life. Sculling helped account for much of the extra detail, but pride in the rigs was another factor IMHO..............This is WAY to lengthy a topic for one reply, good books on the subject are "NEW JERSEY DECOYS" , by Gosner and "Floating Sculpture" by Huster and Knight
 
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Well said Jode.

Another excellent book that is full of reference material, and a must-have for anyone that loves NJ or Delaware decoys, is "New Jersey Decoys" by Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr. There are 665 plates (photos) of every carver from the area. It's still in print for a very reasonable price.
 
I have waiting to reply as have no great knowledge of ths topic and was waiting for soemone like Jode to tell you what you need to know. I do however have the "floating sculpture book" by harrison huster and knight and it is full of info on styles and were certain styles were used and why they were as they are. If you wait you can pick up a second hand copy quiet reasonable think i got my copy for about 30 dollars. worth an invetsment

All the best. Scotty.
 
THANKS for the reponses....i am actually waiting on the "floating sculpture" book as we speak - estimated delivery in february 23rd.

i drew up a delaware river bird, cut it and roughed it out with the draw knife the other day.....really boogered up the lower rump/tail area and just hoping i can salvage it to make it a serviceable gunner.

oh well, just gonna keep plugging away......i figure in about 50 yrs, i may make a decoy that is fairly nice :)

thanks, justin
 


Thats the only way your going to get it mate, try try and try again. Hav eyou looked up Rick Brown his website is very helpful as he has decoy pictures from many angles. K Folkman from this forum also carves a nice delaware decoy sure he may not mind to give you some advice. I have Mr Browns stored on my hard drive if you need a paticular species let me know. Regards, Scotty.
 
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thanks scotty!

kevin makes a great decoy from the one's i've seen posted.

preciate the rick brown headsup.....his page is bookmarked....those are great decoys!

-justin
 
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