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Connecticut decoy

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  jerseywaterfowler 
#1 ·
Been spending the past few days starting the process of cleaning out my in-laws house in CT as my father in-law is in a home. While cleaning up came across duffel bags of decoys. They mostly appear to be home made and primarily bluebills. A simple cork on plywood with a counterweight screwed in. There were 4 of these things, which are huge, twice as big as any decoy and I am guessing was used for sea duck hunting on LI sound. Anyone ever seen such a thing?
 
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#2 ·
Never seen one like that but the head is gorgeous, definitely a Connecticut bird, I would post this up in the Conn site. It looks like the Strafford influence to me but I don't know much bout Conn decoys. Definitely a keeper!
 
#5 ·
Fitz,
The black duck is a L.L. Bean Coastal Black Duck made sometime in the sixties -early 70's era in what looks like nice original paint. Nice find. The other bird is also very nice, maker Unknown, but a very desirerable nonetheless. Take good care of them. If you are going to hunt over them I would treat them like gold, as they hold some value. Baby them, especially the blacks because the necks will split because they use an iron nail as a pin to adjust the head to look left, right or straight ahead and the salt water rusts it and splits the neck after time. The tails are also fragile as they are a plywood laminate and fall apart unless you are very careful with them. If I were you I would put em on the mantle and use the nice plastic decoys that are on the market today.
 
#6 ·
Fitz,
The black duck is a L.L. Bean Coastal Black Duck made sometime in the sixties -early 70's era in what looks like nice original paint. Nice find. The other bird is also very nice, maker Unknown, but a very desirerable nonetheless. Take good care of them. If you are going to hunt over them I would treat them like gold, as they hold some value. Baby them, especially the blacks because the necks will split because they use an iron nail as a pin to adjust the head to look left, right or straight ahead and the salt water rusts it and splits the neck after time. The tails are also fragile as they are a plywood laminate and fall apart unless you are very careful with them. If I were you I would put em on the mantle and use the nice plastic decoys that are on the market today.
I enlarged your picture and it appears as if the blackies head is fixed to the body. Hard to tell as the anchor line breaks it up, but it may be a George Soule original, and not the mass produced birds he made for Bean. If that is the case the value goes up. He could be worth $100 or so... too bad cork doesn't hold the value like wooden decoys, otherwise you might have been adding zeroes to that value.
 
#7 ·
Pete,
I was able to do some research and I do believe the black ones are from LL Bean. As far as heads go they look to be solid, non movable with the pin going straight done to the keel and plugged with a piece of wood in keel. The paint job is incredibly nice, 3 of the 4 are a very dark brown and the 4th is a light brown. I wonder if they came in sets of 6, 3 and 3 and two light browns are missing. I will baby them, but they deserve to be hunted over at least a few times per year. If they were wood I would be in Tuckerton or Haverare de grace selling them pronto for my father in-law.
 
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