Inside Decoys from Shelburne Museum

Hollow decoys

In his chapter on hollow decoys in Wild Fowl Decoys, Barber extensively quotes from a work by Joseph W. Long entitled American wild-fowl shooting, published in 1874, when, in Barber's estimation, the craft had reached the apex of its development (Barber 1934). After establishing why wood decoys are superior to those made of rubber, Long then describes how hollow decoys were fabricated. According to Long, they were made from three pieces of wood; two to make up the hollowed body and one for the head. The pieces would be roughly cut to size before being adhered or fastened to one another and final finishing. After sanding, the work was sealed with shellac, primed and painted using artist oil colors.
 
To support Long's description, Barber outlines the manner in which decoys by carvers such as Albert Laing and Benjamin Holmes were made. Both makers were active in the Stratford, Connecticut area in the last half of the nineteenth century. 

While Barber's and Long's descriptions are accurate for many hollow constructed decoys in Shelburne Museum's collection, there are some, like the Osgood Canada geese, constructed with bodies made with three pieces of wood.
 

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