Mystery Decoy - nice corkers

[Steve Sanford]

All~


I am rehabbing 7 nice cork-bodied Black Ducks for another Long Island gunner. I am pretty sure they are made of Wiley Cork because they have never been painted, just "burned". They could be factory-made - but maybe just the work of a skilled craftsman. I could believe they are earlier Autumn Wings decoys - based primarily on the heads.


Your thoughts?






Five heads are uprights, 2 sleepers.






The paint - from an air brush? - makes me think factory.






Nice body shape. No tail insert or bottom board.






The bodies are 2 layers of 2-inch cork. I recall that Wiley made both 2-inch and 4-inch cork.







Nice wing detail - just like Sanford birds, with one primary group slightly raised above the other. (I do this only on wooden birds, not on corkers.) A mild criticism: The primary tips should extend further aft, IMO.







Not a perfect profile shot - but it shows the nicely-made Oak keel.






Another shot of the bottom.






Bow on - to show the body sections.






I have base-coated the heads with flat oil - Pettit 3303 Dull Dead Grass - and will seal and paint the keels and bottoms. After finish-painting the heads I will oil (Linseed) burn the bodies. (Those are the Harold Haman's in the back row.)







So, send me your thoughts!


All the best,


SJS

 

[george w]

Stee, Wiley made two inch, forever, and started with four, five, and even six(for a brief tie) in 1985.

 

[RLLigman]

Steve, I suspect that the carver shortened the primaries in an effort to "show" them, but not extend them so far aft as to risk breakage. Bills, primary feathers, and tails seem to be the parts of a decoy that get broken or chipped the most. I just finally finished repairing a wigeon that had all three damaged.

 

[bob welsh]

Still have a chunk of Wiley 4 inch in the shop. Maybe enough for a teal pair or one big duck. For sure I am out of Val Oil doggone it.

 

[george w]

Bob, nice thing about Wiley is that you could paint without EVER using a sealer. I used Valoil to make a slurry with sc dust to fill voids in the black cork, which i used for a year, prior to switching to Wiley.