Ducks, Geese, Loons, Swans & Song Birds

Wood carved mallards duck decoys lead our line of decorative waterfowl that include pintails, wood ducks, blue winged teal, merganser and many more. Each of these exquisite pieces are made in the USA from eastern pine and are carved & painted by skilled artisans. The artists create each waterfowl carving in a realistic life-size detail of a real waterfowl. Basswood is an ideal “canvas” for paints, and your black duck will not suffer from colors that bring out areas like the speculum, bill, side pockets and wings.

The distinction confused him — art was apparently a bunch of doll heads glued to a nearby wall — but it didn’t discourage him. For almost 40 years, Steve Brettell has worked with monkish devotion in a tiny attic workshop, crafting countless exquisitely lifelike duck decoys. Details accented with a stain to emphasize quality. Mike Valley has found a great way to spend the winter and off hours in Wisconsin when the river in inhospitable for commercial fishing, wood carving.

Teal Duck Examples

Sotheby’s, Guyette & Deeter sold a decoy for $684,000. Just three years later, in Guyette & Deeter’s own sale, a duck decoy sold for $803,000, and another example for $830,000 in 2006. To date, the record price for a decoy is $856,000, sold in 2007 by Guyette & Deeter in a joint auction with Christie’s. In the late 1960s, https://bestwoodcarvingtool.com/gallery/ducks-wood-carving-projects/ auctioneer Richard Borne began holding auctions in Hyannis, Massachusetts dedicated to duck decoys; an unprecedented move in the market. Guyette notes that once Borne was commissioned to sell the estate of William J. Mackey, the most important decoy collector of the time, masses began flocking to the auctions.

• Elmer Crowell carved pintail drake and Canada goose.
• Our Hand Carved Alert White Swan Decorative Wooden Duck Decoy is handcrafted and hand painted by skilled artisans in upstate New York.
• Each decoy is uniquely carved and meticulously finished the old fashioned way, by hand.
• I use a band saw to do this, but the first time I made a decoy duck I used a hand saw.

Can you go down to your local lumber store and pick up a piece that size? Bundy Duck Decoys are one of the few true forms of American folk art. Every on of our finely crafted wood carvings and products are created one at a time and are one-of-a-kind. Or, you can discover more here make a block of wood that is large enough for carving by layering three boards together. Pick up a 2 inch X 10 inch X 8 foot long board from a lumber yard or home center. Then cut three pieces of 2 inch x 10 inch x 16 inches and glue them together using epoxy.

Golf Club Bird

The next step is to assemble the tools and materials you will need to start carving and painting your duck. Our Classic Series Decoys are standard sized and have extra detailing around the wings, tail feathers and beaks. https://bestwoodcarvingtool.com/ This series offers the widest variety of decoy species. His work is unique and beautiful and yet very affordable for such quality pieces. I cannot wait to include several more of his decoys in my collection, thank you.

The market first started with small, niche groups of enthusiasts throughout the United States in the 1950s and ‘60s who began collecting antique duck decoys. When Hal Sorenson of Burlington, Iowa published a magazine called “The Decoy Collector’s Guide,” everything started to change. These wood-carved decoys have continued to evolve into an art form celebrating America’s duck hunting history. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, duck was considered a delicacy, even more so than today. Many of the finest restaurants around the country featured it on the menu, having shipped it in from the southeast coast, packed in sea grass and seaweed into barrels. Suffice it to say, duck hunting was big business in these days.

Many finishes, because they contain oil stains, tend to darken with age. A finish that keeps its original color consists of equal parts of boiled linseed oil, pure gum turpentine and white vinegar. However, it does not mix well and must be repeatedly stirred.