September 2019

My Favorite Three Decoys..

 

Peter Cilento was the favorite three speaker for the September meeting. Peter brought in several decoys to show and talk about. 

            The first decoy Peter showed was a black bellied plover made of wood and carved by Obadiah Verity of Seaford. Peter said he got it in 2000 at a yard sale in East Moriches.  He said a man was antiquing from the trunk of his car. Most of the stuff was junk but there was this nice little Black Bellied Plover for sale. Peter made an offer, he didn’t remember exactly how much but it wasn’t a lot, and he was able to buy it from him. Even though Peter thinks it may have been rebilled, he likes it because it has excellent form and comes from a historical family of Long island carvers.  

            The second decoy Peter showed was a set of 4 yellowlegs from the Raynor rig of Westhampton. He said that there was an estate sale near his home, he wasn’t going to go but got talked into it. And he was pretty glad he did. He got 3 of the shorebirds at the sale and had Russ Allen make a fourth with a turned head in the same style as the others.

            The third decoy Peter showed was a wooden Mason curlew from a Long Island rig. He got it from a LIDCA club member in 2000. Peter said he had it for about 20 years and likes it because curlews are majestic large shorebirds and are rare on Long Island. And you don’t see too many of them.

            The fourth decoy he showed was a black duck which has a JRB under the bill but he doesn’t know who carved it. Peter said he got it this summer in the Hampton Bays.

            We thank Peter for bringing in some of his favorite decoys and sharing with us why he likes them.

 

 (Reminder, if you are scheduled to talk about your favorite three decoys but will not be able to attend the meeting, please contact Ben Sohm or Kate Sohm so they can get a replacement for the meeting.)

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