Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
I just got this book in the mail - and love it! I have only skimmed it thus far - but it has very nice - and large - photos of many truly gorgeous decoys. It opened my Atlantic Tidewater eyes to a wonderful world (and it arrived with a pair of rare Herter's Mallards which will be the subject of some future post...)
I was inspired to buy this book by 2 circumstances. About 6 years ago - February 2020, I think - my wife and I drove up to the Shelburne Museum to see the last days of a show about Joel Barber - the father of decoy collecting, thanks to his WILD-FOWL DECOYS, published in 1934.
Of course, the exhibit had just a fraction of their collection - one of the best in the country. They have most of Barber's personal collection and had just completed a re-build of the Dorset House - where all the decoys are shown. I photographed scores of decoys during our visit - and came away with plenty of inspiration. I painted this Canvasback - which Barber himself carved, inspired by similar decoys he had found on Lake. St. Clair. The watercolor (which I've shown here previously) was the first "flat work" I had attempted after losing my right-eye vision in 2019.
I also took inspiration from many others - including this bobtail Broadbill (Bluebill in Michigan I suppose....)
Last Fall, I met duckboats.net member Bryce Sharpe in person for the first time. We foregathered at our Lake Champlain camp - which is in New York - across the Lake from the Shelburne. I recommended that he and his wife swing by and take a look. Sure enough, Bryce, too, was taken in by those bobtails. He is contemplating a rig of divers for an old Long Island Scooter he is restoring. I have never carved a bobtail - but learned about them here on duckboats - and saw the wisdom of a well-protected stern on diver decoys - as Long Island's Al McCormick had been doing for many decades.
I guess this post is about the book and the Shelburne. I recommend both to any member.
https://shelburnemuseum.org/collection/decoys/
I do not recall who carved these 3 spectacular Canadas - but they grace the banner of the Shelburne's Decoy Collection page:
This George Warin Goose was featured in the Barber exhibit and is also in the book.
I am frequently struck by how many exceptional carvers also built boats! (This label refers to a watercolor of the decoy)
I will presume most members here know roughly where the Great Lakes are. I have never been to Lake St. Clair, but.....
Enjoy!
SJS
I just got this book in the mail - and love it! I have only skimmed it thus far - but it has very nice - and large - photos of many truly gorgeous decoys. It opened my Atlantic Tidewater eyes to a wonderful world (and it arrived with a pair of rare Herter's Mallards which will be the subject of some future post...)
I was inspired to buy this book by 2 circumstances. About 6 years ago - February 2020, I think - my wife and I drove up to the Shelburne Museum to see the last days of a show about Joel Barber - the father of decoy collecting, thanks to his WILD-FOWL DECOYS, published in 1934.
Of course, the exhibit had just a fraction of their collection - one of the best in the country. They have most of Barber's personal collection and had just completed a re-build of the Dorset House - where all the decoys are shown. I photographed scores of decoys during our visit - and came away with plenty of inspiration. I painted this Canvasback - which Barber himself carved, inspired by similar decoys he had found on Lake. St. Clair. The watercolor (which I've shown here previously) was the first "flat work" I had attempted after losing my right-eye vision in 2019.
I also took inspiration from many others - including this bobtail Broadbill (Bluebill in Michigan I suppose....)
Last Fall, I met duckboats.net member Bryce Sharpe in person for the first time. We foregathered at our Lake Champlain camp - which is in New York - across the Lake from the Shelburne. I recommended that he and his wife swing by and take a look. Sure enough, Bryce, too, was taken in by those bobtails. He is contemplating a rig of divers for an old Long Island Scooter he is restoring. I have never carved a bobtail - but learned about them here on duckboats - and saw the wisdom of a well-protected stern on diver decoys - as Long Island's Al McCormick had been doing for many decades.
I guess this post is about the book and the Shelburne. I recommend both to any member.
https://shelburnemuseum.org/collection/decoys/
I do not recall who carved these 3 spectacular Canadas - but they grace the banner of the Shelburne's Decoy Collection page:
This George Warin Goose was featured in the Barber exhibit and is also in the book.
I am frequently struck by how many exceptional carvers also built boats! (This label refers to a watercolor of the decoy)
I will presume most members here know roughly where the Great Lakes are. I have never been to Lake St. Clair, but.....
Enjoy!
SJS
Last edited: