Vintage Decoy Pair Green Winged Teal Hen and Drake

This is a fine pair of green winged teal decoys by Jim Pierce (1934-present), Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Pierce's highly regarded decoys from the Upper Bay of the Chesapeake have the form of classic Havre de Grace decoys. He made his first decoy at the age of 14, carved decoys with Harry Jobes in his parents' basement and worked early on in Madison Mitchell's shop. Pierce opened his own shop in 1954 and subsequently helped found the Cecil County Upper Bay Decoy Museum as well as the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum. Pictured is the cover of a book about him published in 2012.

This solid white pine hen and drake pair are each signed, hand carved into the bottom "Jim Pierce Havre de Grace, MD 1983." They are also stamped "JP" under the upswept tail of each. They are all original and both have their lead weights and rigging hooks. Both the graceful carving and the lifelike painting of these ducks are superb.

The hen has painted eyes on the dark streak on its alert head and the distinctive cream stripe at the rear. It measures 13 1/2 inches long, about 5 inches across the breast and 6 inches tall standing on its keel. It weighs 9 1/2 ounces and has had a knock that resulted in a 1 1/2 inch long strip of lost paint on one side of the neck (shown in a photo with an arrow). There are also some scratches on the back, near the tail, but the decoy is in very good shape otherwise and displays handsomely.

The drake has a chestnut head with painted eyes on the green streak and a vertical white stripe on the sides behind the neck, which identifies it as the American subspecies rather than the Eurasian. It has the same measurements as the hen, but weighs 8 ounces. It has some paint nicks and dents in the wood, but nothing objectionable, and it also looks great displayed.

These full-size decoys by Jim Pierce are a wonderful find for the serious collector.

⁎⁎ The wooden stands are not included...sorry.

57760, 57770