"Nantucket Shorebirds"

     Shorebird decoys, or “birds on a stick” are avidly collected by both folk art lovers and decoy collectors.  Unfortunately, they represent a time when it was legal to hunt curlews, plovers, sandpipers and other beach birds, mostly for their plumage which was used to decorate fashionable ladies’ hats.  This practice was outlawed in 1913 with the passage of the Migratory Bird Act, but the passage of this law was a little late, because some  species of shorebirds, tragically were hunted to extinction.

     On the positive side, shorebird decoys are some of the most beautiful and artistic pieces of folk art available, and they were made in such sufficient quantities as to enable many collectors to acquire them.  They are fragile creations, and for every one that survived, many more were destroyed or lost. To find a nearly 100 year old (or older) shorebird decoy completely intact, with an unbroken bill, is a joy.  Really great shorebird decoys can command over half a million dollars these days, while most of the original carvers charged no more than a few dollars each.  In fact one of the greatest carvers of all, William Bowman, a Long Island recluse, is reputed to have traded decoys for whiskey, and several of his very best shorebirds were found in the attic of a old roadhouse.

     Some really outstanding shorebird decoys were made by talented but unknown carvers, often for their own personal hunting rigs.  Such is the case of many decoys from Nantucket; including the six decoys in this painting. They have a distinctive style, but were made by unknown hands.  Of course collectors and “decoy detectives” are constantly trying to identify old-time decoy makers, and by the time I finish writing this, someone may have found out who made these decoys. I just like them.  As for the Tuckernuck Island Shooting Club, I have no idea if there was ever such a place, but I think the sign was a nice addition to the composition.

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