Fred Croft Black Duck Decoy Belleville, Ontario
He lived in Prince Edward County and during the First World War he moved to Belleville. His decoys were influenced by other Belleville carvers such as Bill Crysler and William Hart.
His main carving period was from 1900 to 1925. He made hollow decoys as well as solid body decoys. This decoy has a solid body and is in all original paint and condition. The body is smoothly rounded with a definite V carved at the body-tail junction on the top of the decoy.
The decoy has been used for hunting but there is only minor wear to the body and high spots on the head. The body and head are scratched painted. Jim Stewart states: Croft was an excellent painter.
His best blacks have a richness in detail in there scratch painting seldom equaled in working decoys. There is nice carving to distinguish where the bill joins the head and the bill has punched nostrils. The eyes are glass and intact.The decoy is 16 inches long by 5 inches high. For further information and a picture of a similar black duck see page 147 in "The County Decoys" by Jim Stewart.
Photos included in the listing. He is also a listed carver in Ontario Decoys II by Bernie Gates. Please view all the pictures and ask if you have any questions.
I have added Jim Stewart's write up about Fred Croft to the listing. He states that he has only seen one or so solid black ducks and likewise with the fan tail black ducks. The item "FRED CROFT BLACK DUCK DECOY BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO" is in sale since Thursday, January 31, 2019. This item is in the category "Sporting Goods\Hunting\Vintage Hunting\Duck Decoys". The seller is "singapore96" and is located in Skaneateles, New York. This item can be shipped to United States.