Lot 94: DAVID B. WARD PREENING SWAN DECOY

Large Hand Carved Preening Swan Decoy by talented Connecticut decoy carver David B. Ward. With his signature initials on the bottom and the date 1981. Among the largest native species of waterfowl in North America, the beauty and grace associated with a swan has truly been captured in this carving. Measures 28"x11"x12". Weight is 12 pds. PROVENANCE: The Estate of Sumner Pingree Jr, Brays Island Plantation, SC. It seems only natural that David B. Ward would become a decoy carver. After all, his grandfather, Ted Mulliken, established the Wildfowler Decoy Company of Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1939. David's grandfather was an award- winning carver, but in order to provide a mass produced decoy on a national scale, he had to employ many other artisans. Wildfowler became a successful company that sold and distributed decoys throughout the United States. It was David's grandfather and being at the Wildfowler factory that gave David his first taste of decoy carving. As a youngster, David would spend a great deal of time "helping" his grandfather at the factory. Moving amongst the mechanics, woodworkers and carvers, finishers and painters, employed at Wildfowler, David saw first-hand the day-to-day operations of what it took to make a decoy. It is from these roots that David would evolve into an accomplished decoy carver in his own right. Using only hand tools, he carves in a traditional manner, which exhibits a thorough understanding of time-honored techniques. While declining requests for reproducing the work of earlier decoy makers, his birds sit comfortably in their company demonstrating a unique style easily recognized as his own. His story was featured in the NY Times.

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