Inside Decoys from Shelburne Museum

Long-tailed hen 1952-192.232

This working decoy by Charles “Shang” Wheeler has a number of features that serve as an interesting comparison to decoys made by Benjamin Holmes and the bluebill drake decoy that Wheeler made to demonstrate decoy carving. The eyes on this decoy are painted rather than made of glass or metal, and, therefore, are not visible in the radiographs. The decoy has been repainted at some point during its history. An earlier paint scheme is visible through losses in the present paint scheme.

As seen in the lateral view radiograph, this long-tail hen decoy has bird shot in the head and body, suggesting that it had been used in the field. Marks from rigging lines wound around the body are seen in the paint, especially on the decoy’s right side, in the normal light, further suggesting use.

Like the decoys made by Holmes, Wheeler constructed this hollow decoy with a thin bottom board and a body piece. In contrast to the examples made by Holmes illustrated here, Wheeler used fewer nails to attached the board to the body. The adhesive used between the body and bottom board is radio-opaque. The bottom board appears to have been made from 2 pieces of wood butt jointed at the center, with the join running breast to tail. This is seen in the anterior-posterior image as a line down the center of the image. A wood plug is present at the center of the bottom board and extends into the hollow within the decoy, as seen in the lateral view radiograph.

The joint between the head and neck is at an angle, as observed in the lateral view in normal light.  The head, in fact, is socketed into the body such that the rear edge of the neck sits below the back of the body. A similar, though less pronounced example of this is seen on Wheeler’s bluebill drake. Unlike the bluebill drake in which a single metal fastener secures the head to the body from within, the head on this long-tailed hen is fastened in place with 4 nails, similar to the way that Holmes attached the heads on the bluebill drake and black duck.

The hollow within the body appears to be rather rectangular and does not follow the curves of the body form in quite the same way as the hollow follows the lines of the body on Wheeler’s bluebill drake, as seen in the lateral view radiograph. While the hollow within the long-tailed hen is visible in the standard radiograph, it is easier to observe using medical digital x-ray tomography, as seen in this slice from a lateral study.

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