| Description |
St. Clair Flats c.1900
Both are 15.75" long | Both are 7.25" wide
Pair of hollow carved Canvasbacks from the St. Clair Flats area. The birds are very light, have relatively thin profiles, and are quite wide. Nearly half as wide as they are long. Both have an applied half inch bottom board held on with roughly 39 nails. The heads are beautifully sculpted with smooth bills and dramatic relief carving where the face meets the bill. Both have their original glass eyes. The hen is painted exceptionally well with a multitude of different browns creating soft feathering on the sides. Similar applications are used to paint wing details, including the speculums on the back. The drake has thick original paint that has endured in its limited use with the back having very tight combed feather painting technique, imitating the vermiculation seen on the backs of Canvasback drakes. The tails are petite points that come to a soft rounded edge off the peak of the rump.
Both come from two different rigs and are near identical copies. The hen, bearing a thinner worn coat of original paint from prolonged use, was discovered in a hunting shed on Rondeau Bay in 2004 and subsequently auctioned off in Guyette & Schmidts 2004 Summer Auction. The bottom of the hen, which is almost entirely worn to bare wood, carries a 'CHN' brand on the underside. The buyer of the hen already had the drake in their collection, astounded to see a mate of similar body style surface. The drake has large and deeply carved letters 'EM' carved into its base with two small inlet poured lead weights on both the left and right side of the bottom.
They are the two finest Canvasbacks we are aware of that have surfaced by this unknown and very talented carver.
Provenance:
Hen discovered in a hunting shed in Rondeau Bay in 2004
Auctioned in Guyette & Schmidt 2004 Summer Sale
Private Collection acquired from above
Private Collection acquired from above estate
Drake private collection
Private collection acquired from above estate
Condition: Very good and original. Hen has areas of worn paint and flaking from use. Underside of bottom board has mostly no paint. Age checks throughout. Neck has cracked and is held stable by the inner dowel or nail. Drake is near mint with a very thin coat of varnish. Some age checks, paint flakes and dents. Paint is worn off the edge of the tail, some of the bill, and the edge of the bottom board.
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