Root Head Brandt Goose Decoy

Root Head Brandt Goose Decoy
Hand Carved and Painted Wood
With Original Glass Eyes
Branded 'J. F. Danes- Blue Pt'
American South Shore Island c.1880

14” high x 26” wide x 9” deep

Provenance: Huey Collection, Doyles 1984.

A fine working example of a genuine late 19th Century hand carved and painted hunter’s working Goose Decoy, with branded inscription to the underside confirming the provenance to J. F. Danes and together with a later collectors numbering from the Huey collection. This is a finely documented historical example from the American Decoy tradition. The naturally formed root head has been fixed with several rose headed, hand wrought nails in an appealingly primitive and functional manner and there is a loss towards the back on the top left side where a knot had shrunk and broken out. The bird retains much of the original painted surface although there are small areas of paint loss and bruising evident which is much how we like to find genuine working examples. As with many of the finest Folk Art Decoys, this example has a wonderfully life like expressiveness to its form and an alertness to its head, suggesting that is was fashioned by a hunter who knew and understood the characteristics and form of his quarry.

Ref: 5730