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\"SUPERB 100% ORIG PAINT\" -RARE EARLY c1897 MASON FACTORY Mallard WOOD DUCK 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; }

OUTSTANDING THICK 100% ORIGINAL PAINT, EXCELLENT CONDITION!!!   Very Early; c1897 \"MASON FACTORY\" Standard Grade \"Glass Eye\" ;   \"DRAKE MALLARD\"  WOOD DUCK DECOY  Detroit, Michigan

SUPERB PAINT DETAIL to FEATHER CURLS on BACK! 

• 117+ YEAR OLD DECOY with GORGEOUS BURNISHED, OLD PATINA!!
• ALL OF THE BEAUTIFUL & ORIGINAL BRUSH MARKS & PAINT SWIRLS MAKE THIS A NICE DECOY TO FIND!!
• EXCELLENT & VERY THICK ORIGINAL PAINT!!!
• Excellent Decoy To Find; A Very Early Mason Mallard!!

It\'s Not Often You Come Across Superb ORIGINAL PAINT & GREAT CONDITION MASON DECOYS;  THAT EVEN GOES FOR 117-YEAR OLD MALLARDS!!

• GLASS EYE DECOYS STANDARD GRADE WERE THE BEST OF THE GLASS EYE MODELS!!

 

• BEAUTIFUL AND SCARCE, BEFORE THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, EARLY MASON MALLARD!!

This Decoy Also Has All of the Great Paint Brush Swirls From The Thick, Original Paint!!!  

Gorgeous Detail Paint to the Precise Speculums!!

OUTSTANDING BREAST SCALLOPING THAT YOU DON\'T ALWAYS SEE ON STANDARD GRADE DECOYS!!

GREAT FEATHER CURL DETAIL ON THE BACK, A GREAT TRAIT TO HAVE AS THEY WERE NOT ROUTINE FOR STANDARD GRADE DECOYS!!

SHIPPING INCLUDES INSURANCE

This 117+ year old decoy was made by the Mason Decoy Factory in Detroit, Michigan and is a Glass Eye, Standard Grade Drake Mallard Duck Decoy. The Glass eye model was their Top-of-the-Line Model of the standard grade wood decoy, one above the the tack eye and two above the Painted Eye Models!  The painted eye was the entry model of wood decoy but the was the version that was made in the fewest numbers.  The painted eye standard grade decoys were the quickest made with the least amount of attention to detail of all of the Mason decoys.  They were quickly painted and carved and normally they were made with no frills or detail and simply made to resemble the species.  This decoy up for sale, however, is a very early and very scarce Glass Eye Model and it is Quite Striking!  The heads were attached to the bodies with scored dowels and the quality control on standard models where the attachment wasn\'t flush was simply hid with a quick swath of putty to fill and then evened flush.  All Standard decoys were carved solid and hand-made and hand-painted not long after the turn of the century.  Of the several wood decoy factories in Detroit, Mason would outlive them all and have a 30 year existence.  This decoy is structurally in outstanding original condition and as you can see this decoy retains the awesome brush marks, feather curls, nicely swathed speculums and paint swirls from the day an artist painted it some 115 years ago; even the \"Awesome Paint Detail\".  The paint on this decoy bis thick, original and outstanding paint.

NOTE ON THE PICTURES BELOW OF THE THICK, INCREDIBLE ORIGINAL BRUSH MARKS -and- AWESOME SCALLOPED PAINT ON THE BREAST  FRINGE FROM THE DAY THIS BEAUTIFUL DECOY WAS MADE!! 

This decoy displays wonderfully and based on condition, I am sure that this decoy was prominently featured in a prominent collection and it has always been in collections that were Temperature-Controlled settings.  The Beautiful, Original Glass Eyes are nicely carved in and the paint on the orange bill and green head look very nice, although there is a chip on the side of the bill and a few small nicks on the end, but if anything it adds to the antique appearance of this 117-Year old hunting decoy.  Many Mason Decoys typically have had some type of loss to the original neck putty, which is quite normal as a great many of the vintage Mason decoys that you see have had some type of restoration or replacement done to their neck putty.  This Mallard decoy up for sale is no exception, as the neck putty is long gone, but the head is as tightly attached to the body as if it were made yesterday!!  This decoy is as solid as the day it was made with no looseness in the neck whatsoever and the deep and vivid original paint is excellent although it is darkened a bit from age; but I personally think it adds to the look of this antique decoy.  Additionally, this decoy is in outstanding original condition with beautiful and fully intact original paint as you can see in the pictures, and overall it is very dry and nice old and original paint with a beautiful and naturally burnished semi-sheen or slightly shiny matte finish to it from being handled over the years.  The outstanding patina on this decoy really is incredible and although it is very hard to capture it in photos, I think a few of the close-up pictures capture the wonderful \"character\" that the surface that this antique and important old gunning decoy has.  This decoy was obviously gunned over a century ago, but it looks awesome for an old gunning bird from over a century ago.  The original paint was done extremely well and as you can see by the many photos, the famous Mason Paint Brush Marks and Wonderful Speculums are intact and have almost all of the bright and vivid original paint perfectly intact.  But even more awesome is the scalloped breast paint and the feather curls on the back, as both look beautiful!!  This decoy is in phenomenal condition on the entire top and sides of the decoy and the bottom is free of any of the typical checking, but it obviously has even wear from gunning, but not all that much really!!   This excellent and significant decoy measures 16-1/8\" long x 5-3/8\" wide x 7\" tall and weighs 2-lb. 3-ozs.  An outstanding decoy that will complement any collection of vintage duck and shorebird decoys from a company that represents as big a part of American Decoy History as any other maker or carver.  Thanks for looking and if you have any additional questions or would like another photo feel free to email me.

The first 11 Photos are of this awesome Mason Drake Mallard decoy up for sale and the Last 4 photos of other standard grade Mason Mallard Decoys for your perusal including other Painted Eye Mallards along with Glass and Tack Eyed Models!!

I COMBINE ALL SHIPPING!!