December 2019

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Roger Feuss was the favorite decoy speaker for the December meeting. He said he had a tough decision trying to decide which decoys to bring for his favorite three. But he eventually managed to make his choice. 

            The first decoy Roger brought to show was a wooden Preening Pintail carved by William Veasey from Elkton, Maryland. Veasey was born in 1932 and began carving in 1970. He was a recipient of the 2015 Ward Museum Living Legend Award. Roger acquired this decoy in 2010 at a tag sale and he likes it because of its beautiful artistry. 

            The second decoy Roger showed was an English Lapwing carved by William Gibian from Onancock Virginia. Roger said William Gibian was born in 1946 and growing up used to observe birds and then one day decided to start carving birds. When he did he found he had a real knack for it.  Roger said that he was influenced by William Bowman and Elmer Crowell.  Roger got the decoy from the carver in 2012. This is a favorite of Rogers because he said the bird is beautiful and its shape, position and painting are wonderful. 

            The third and fourth decoys Roger showed were a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers carved by the Chincoteague Virginia carver Delbert “Cigar” Daisey. Cigar Daisey was born March 6, 1928 and died April 19, 2017. They decoys are dated 1974 and Roger got them it at an auction in 1984. Roger said he likes them because they are two beautiful birds. Roger told a story that one time when Cigar Daisey was poaching birds he left a trail of smoked cigars on the ground which led the authorities to track him right back to his house. Roger said Cigar Daisey was the resident carver at the Refuge Waterfowl MuseumChincoteague Virginia. And that he was a recipient of the Living Legend Award when it was created by the Ward Museum in 2013.

            In closing, Roger acknowledged that he wished he had known about the rich history of decoy carving and collecting in New York because it would have saved him a lot of traveling to the Mid-Atlantic region for decoys.

            We thank Roger for sharing the stories of his favorite decoys and learning about their carvers from such far far away places like Maryland and Virginia. 

 

            Bill Davis is scheduled for the February meeting and Mike Wolyniecscheduled for the  

March meeting.

 

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