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PRISTINE, SCARCE c1970 MADISON MITCHELL \
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PRISTINE, SCARCE c1970 MADISON MITCHELL \"Christmas Duck\" HEN PINTAIL WOOD DECOY
Price: US $184.50
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PRISTINE, SCARCE! c1970 MADISON MITCHELL \"Christmas Duck\" HEN PINTAIL WOOD DECOY a.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:hover.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:visited.imagelink {color:#00A8A8;} a.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #000000; } a:visited.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #00A8A8; }

Decoy Carving Legend R. Madison Mitchell (1901-1993)

SCARCE HEN;OUTSTANDING MINT CONDITION!!!c1970 R. Madison Mitchell "Christmas Duck";HENPINTAILWOOD DUCK DECOY;Havre de Grace, Maryland; SUSQUEHANNA FLATS (UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY)

ONE of MITCHELL'S PRIZED "CHRISTMAS" CARVINGS

  • SUPERB44-YEAR OLD,DECORATIVEPAINTon thisAWESOME GUNNING DECOY!!!
  • SUPERB FORM & TRULY ONE OFMITCHELL'S DAUBED& FINE BRUSH PAINTAND NICELY POSED, SLIGHTLY-TURNED,MADISON MITCHELL ALERT HEAD!!

    • Awesome Vintage Old DecoyandHisVery Best,Decorative DecoyStyle Carving and Paint!!
    • ALTHOUGH ENORMOUSLY PROLIFIC,Excellent ConditionDecorative Hen PintailsMade bythis "CARVING LEGEND" areVERY HARD TO COME BY!!

    Thisis a Perfectly Symmetrically Carved & Painted UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY GUNNING-STYLE BIRD! (see photos; especially front and rear views)

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    This44+ year oldHen Pintailsolid cedar "Christmas Duck" wooddecoywas carved and painted by Master Carver and Decoy Carving Legend R. Madison Mitchell (1901-1993)of Havre de Grace, Maryland. Havre de Grace is a city in Harford County, situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which in full was once Le Havre de Grâce (French, "Haven of Grace"). During the Revolutionary War, the small hamlet known as Harmer's Town was visited several times by General Lafayette, who was considered a hero of the war.Lafayette commented that the area reminded him of the French seaport of Le Havre, which as previously mentionedhad originally been named Le Havre-de-Grâce. Inspired by Lafayette's comments, the residents incorporated the town as Havre de Grace in 1785. The early industry of Havre de Grace included oyster and crab harvesting, and extensive fruit orchards. Products were shipped to markets along the East Coast and upriver. Havre de Grace alsobecame widely known for duck hunting, and was a seasonal destination for hunters. They stayed at the town hotels and hired local guides to escort them hunting on the river and along the bay. Local artisans became known for their high quality decoy making, which is honored in the Decoy Museum of the city.

    THE LATE MADISON MITCHELL PAINTING ONE OF HIS FINE GEESE.

    Madison Mitchell was born in Oakington, Harford County and spent his entire life in or near Havre de Grace. Madison Mitchellbegan making decoys in 1924 when helping Sam Barnes finish out his orders for that year. He had made decoys ever since, in addition to hisoccupation as an undertaker. His decoys were completely hand chopped until 1931 when he had a duplicating lathe built and began turning his own bodies. A great amount of work still had to be done as the lathe, like a band saw to other carvers, simplyforms the block of wood into its basic shape. His early output consisted of hand chopped decoys. It would taketen pages todescribe the life and accomplishments of Mr. Mitchell, but a great reference that can give you all of the interesting details of his life and his transition from undertaker to decoy maker, is all in an article on the "International Wildfowl Carvers Association" websitewhichhas areprinted 2007 articlefrom Decoy Magazinewritten by thefascinating and knowledgeableJim Trimble, or you could contact Decoy magazine as they may have a back issue available. Oryou can just about pick up any book that features the Atlantic Flyway or Chesapeake Bayand Mr. Mitchell and his outstanding decoys will be given prominence within the pages. For a nice full-color assortment of photos of his later decoys and every species,The Hagan's book, "Upper Chesapeake Bay Decoys and Their Makers", is a great pictorial reference.

    THE MASTER OF DETAIL PUTTING ON THE FINAL TOUCHES.

    This classic andscarceR.Madison MitchellDecorative "Christmas Duck" Hen Pintaildecoyup for saleis truly one of hismost beautiful Hen Pintaildecoys and is incredibly true to the form and style of his best decoys that made him famous; but even better as it was given theextra attention to carving and painting that he affordedthese specialdecorative decoys. His earliest output of decoys consisted of Canada Geese, Cans, Redheads and Bluebills and to a lesser degree and in a limited number pintails, mallards andblack ducks. But Even Though Mitchell carvedsome pintailsin the 1970's, Beautiful Decorative Decoys Like This Are Always a Great and Infrequent Decoy to Come Across!!

    The form anddetail of thishen pintailup for saleis pure Madison Mitchell with an perfect upswept tail, beautifully contoured body andextraordinarilycarvedand painted neck, head, rare glass eyesand bill.This decoy is also one of the most symmetrical decoysfrom his hugeportfolio as you can see clearly in all of the photos that are part of this listing, and particularly in the front and rear close-up photos as this decoy is near perfect.This decoy up for sale is in outstanding mint condition, and like Mitchell's gunning decoys, this decoy's head was attached with 5 nails; 3 long finishing nails through the top of the head and 2 through the lower front of the base of the neck and into the body. This decoy is in just wonderful condition, not only is the head as tightly attached as the day this decoy was made, all 5 nails are soperfectly intact andyou haveto look very hard to tell where the nails are even located.

    This decoy isalso in mintstructural conditionandfrom a cosmetic standpoint it only hasvery lightrubbing to the bill and tail, which is quite remarkable for a gunning decoy thatsawsome days of being gunned over out on the Susquehanna Flats.This decoy's tight and structurally perfect head and neck are also a testament to Mitchell's quality as a great many of the decoys from the region have some type of neck damage due to inherent inadequacies in the "top nailing" method of head mounting.Where the 3 nails were used, the nail heads were countersunk into the hole and the hole was covered with a lead, adhesive putty. All of the nails on this decoy are perfectly and originally intact and as a matter of fact the holes where they were used are hard to see and honestly,wonderfully intactas you have to look hard to see them. This way of attaching the heads is much rarer in other parts of the country where large screws were inserted through the bottom of the decoy and up into the neck. There is a very hard to seesurfacecheck to the paintwhere the head meets the body, but it is so small I didn't even notice it for a long time. That is it, this is a beautiful mint condition "Christmas Duck" and one of his decoys that is getting harder and harder to find.

    This decoy up for sale is in structurally and aestheticallymint condition and this decoy hassuperb, dry paint andnice patina.ThisHen Pintailisinsuperb structuralcondition and sincethis older decoy isin such phenomenal condition, I'm surethat it hasbeen inthe temperature controlled environmentofacollection foritsentire retirement.This decoy has the typical flat bottom that he used only on his "Christmas Ducks", and I am sure that the suede pad was added when it entered the discriminating collection it belonged to. This is just an extraordinary older Madison MitchellHen Pintaildecoythat not only looks great, I amsure it will beone of the manyfocal points in its next collection, that may even have some great tollers already headlining the show.This astoundingly symmetricallycarved and paintedHen Pintail decoymeasures 16" long x 5-3/8" wide x 7-1/2" tall and weighs asomewhat hefty 2-lbs. 4-ozs.

    Thishen pintailis in wonderful condition withclean and concisepaint and I would say it is in mint overall condition with excellentpatina and all of the charismaand character ofhis awesome gunningdecoys. This beautiful Madison MitchellPintail decoywas made exactly like his gunning decoys that were made to take a pounding on the sometimes protected and often relentless open waters of theAtlantic Coastal Region. Although it didn't have to deal withthe rigors oftime, I am sure it could have easily done so as it was made in the exact same manner, but it was also given the extra touch of finer carving and paint detailing that only his "Christmas Ducks" received. An excellent decoy from the hands of one of the most prolific and famous Master decoy carvers that called Havre de Grace their home. A truly great andclassic decorative hunting block from the hands of a true legend. Great addition to your decoy collection from one of the true East Coast Master Carvers and Will Only Continue to Appreciate and Increase in Value Year after Year!! If you would like any additional photos or have any questions feel free to email me. Thanks for looking.

    The first9 Photos are of this awesomePintail decoy by R. Madison Mitchell up for saleand those are followed by8 photos of other MitchellPintail Decoys (some are full-size, others decorative and miniatures). In the Last photo Mr. Mitchell is standing right next to a pair of pintails within a display of many of his wonderful decoys.

    His earliest output of decoys consisted of Canada Geese, Cans, Redheads and Bluebills and to a lesser degree and in a limited number pintails, mallards andblack ducks. Finally,in even limited numbers he made Wigeon and Teal decoys for Gunners to Buy. After 1960 he carved almost every species that was known to fly the Atlantic Flyway, although a great many species were only made as decoratives.

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