Madison Mitchell Canvasback sink box decoy Pair
Mitchell is considered the Dean of the Upper Chesapeake Bay decoy makers and this title is well deserved. Mitchell owned his own funeral business and began making decoys in 1924 with his cousin Sam Barnes.
Mitchell produced his first decoys at his shop in 1926. He continued to make hand chopped birds up until about 1930 when he then had a friend build him a duplicating lathe.
Mitchell's classic decoy design is based on the early work of John "Daddy" Holly. He has produced over 100,000 decoys (more than any other maker in the area) that are highly sought after by collectors today.To his credit, many well known decoy makers of today such as Charlie Joiner, Jim Pierce, and Harry Jobes got their start in the decoy business working in the Mitchell decoy shop. Mitchell's Havre de Grace style of decoys the time of the sinkbox and market hunting era to the decorative decoys that are collected today. He played a major role in the establishment of the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum and was selected to serve as honorary chairman for the first annual Havre de Grace Decoy Festival held in 1982.
Decoys of the Susquehanna Flats and Their Makers by J. Evans McKinney 1990 and Decoy Magazine January/February 1993. These sink box decoys were carved in wood by Mr. Mitchell, then cast in iron, then hand painted by him. The last number of the date is not very legible, but at any rate they were created in the'80s.
They are about 14 inches long and weigh about 22 pounds each. There is felt covering the bottom of the decoys.
The paint is original and there are some rust spots , mostly around the bottom edge of the male and on the back of the male. The rust has not progressed in the 14 years that I have owned them. The item "Madison Mitchell Canvasback sink box decoy Pair" is in sale since Tuesday, June 12, 2018.
This item is in the category "Sporting Goods\Hunting\Vintage Hunting\Duck Decoys". The seller is "j1l2c3" and is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This item can be shipped to United States.
- Material: iron
- Features: Solid Body
- Duck Type: Canvasback
- Brand: Mitchell