SCARCE PAINTED-EYE HEN BLUEBILL or BROADBILL c1905 MASON FACTORY Wood Duck Decoy
VERY SCARCE PAINTED EYE STANDARD-GRADE HEN DECOY!! EXCELLENT & THICK MOSTLY ORIGINAL PAINT with VERY OLD, IN-USE GUNNING PAINT to BROWN AREAS!!
A VERY NEAT BURNISHED PATINA that is THICK, TEXTURED & RICH WITH AGE!!! Vintage Turn of the Century Painted Eye Standard Grade Hen Bluebill or Broadbill with ORIGINAL LEAD BALLAST WEIGHT!!
SCARCE PAINTED-EYE HEN BLUEBILL or BROADBILL c1905 MASON FACTORY Wood Duck Decoy. RARE "PAINTED-EYE HEN" MASON FACTORY DECOY. EXCELLENT THICK 100% ORIGINAL PAINT!! EARLY, c1905 "MASON FACTORY" Standard Grade "Painted Eye"."HEN BROADBILL" WOOD DUCK DECOY. EXCELLENT PATINA to this 112+ YEAR OLD DECOY!!!!
112+ YEAR OLD DECOY with AN EXCELLENT PAINT-TEXTURED, "RICH", BURNISHED from AGE, PATINA! SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL & ORIGINAL BRUSH MARKS & PAINT SWIRLS PRESENT!! THICK ORIGINAL WHITE PAINT & MIX of thick ORIGINAL & 100-YEAR OLD, IN-USE GUNNING PAINT STILL MAKES THIS A NICE DECOY TO FIND....
And QUITE RARE AS IT IS A PAINTED EYE MODEL... THE RAREST OF THE STANDARD GRADES BY FAR!!
JUST A NICE OLD GUNNING DECOY WITH ITS ITS ORIGINAL LEAD BALLAST WEIGHT PERFECTLY INTACT! It's Not Often You Come Across VERY NICE, GREAT CONDITION PAINT-EYE MASON DECOYS; THAT EVEN GOES FOR 112-YEAR OLD PAINTED-EYE BLUEBILLS! PAINTED EYE DECOYS in the STANDARD GRADE WERE THE "ENTRY LEVEL" STANDARD MODELS! Nice Detail Paint to the Entire Decoy that was Done By a Mason Artist Over a Century Ago! This BLUEBILL was from the SAME MICHIGAN RIG, HUNTED-OVER on the LAKE ST. PAINTED EYE ARE THE RAREST OF ALL THE STANDARD MODELS BECAUSE OF THEIR THINNER BODY and MORE RELAXED QUALITY STANDARDS COMPARED TO THE TACK-EYE AND GLASS-EYED MODELS!!FOR THAT VERY REASON AND THE FACT THAT TACK-EYED WERE A NOMINAL UPCHARGE CUSTOMERS WERE EASILY TALKED INTO UPGRADING TO TACK EYES AND QUITE OFTEN TO GLASS EYED MODELS! WAY FEWER PAINTED EYE MODELS WERE MADE WHICH MAKES THESE GEMS SCARCE and a GREAT FIND!! WEALTHY PEOPLE CERTAINLY UPGRADED to CHALLENGE and PREMIER MODELS! A NICE AND CLEANLY EXECUTED PAINTED EYE MASON HEN BLUEBILL DECOY, ONE of THE RAREST OF THE GROUP!! I ENCOURAGE YOU to USE the ZOOM FEATURE in this LISTING to GET a SUPER CLOSE-UP of the PAINT!
If You Like Old Gunning Decoys That Did What They Were Made To Do and Show The Obvious Wear But Look Good, Here is a Great Decoy For Your Collection! This Decoy Measures 13-3/4" long x 4-1/8" wide x 6 tall & Weighs 2-lbs. That includes the 5-7 oz. This 112+ year old decoy was made by the Mason Decoy Factory in Detroit, Michigan and is a Painted Eye, Standard Grade Hen Broadbill Duck Decoy. The Painted eye model was their entry grade of the standard grade model of wood decoy, one below the tack eye.
The painted eye was the entry model of wood decoy but the was the version that was made in the fewest numbers. They were quickly painted and carved and normally they were made with no frills or detail and simply made to resemble the species. The heads were attached to the bodies with scored dowels and the quality control on standard models where the attachment wasn't flush was simply hid with a quick swath of putty to fill and. The head is as tightly attached to the body as if it were made yesterday!! Even more impressive is that the head is just as tightly attached to the body as the day it was made by Mason craftsmen over a century ago.
This Historic old decoy was hunted over and it has nice and even rubbing to the edges and high points; but it certainly was very well cared for and I personally think it adds to the look of this antique and "gunned over" hunting decoy. The original glue holds this head perfectly intact and it is just a very nice, very scarce, very old and fairly early Mason, Painted Eye Bluebill Decoy!
Although the Painted Eye Bluebills are Not the Scarcest of the Paint Eye Models, they certainly aren't seen on a consistent basis like mallard decoys as you see those models slightly more routinely. Carved solid and hand-made and hand-painted not long after the turn of the century. Of the several wood decoy factories in Detroit, Mason would outlive them all and have a 30 year existence. This decoy is structurally in great original condition and as you can see this decoy retains some of the awesome brush marks and paint swirls from the day an artist painted it some 100 years ago; nice standard Grade Paint Detail.
This decoy is structurally in Excellent 100% Original Condition and as you can see this decoy retains some of the awesome brush marks, paint brush Marks and Swirls from the day an artist painted it some 110 years ago; even the "Awesome Paint Detail". T he paint on this decoy is thick and artfully textured paint like no other decoy factory other than Mason was able to achieve. (Below): TWO PHOTOS of "PAINTED EYE" STANDARD GRADE BLUEBILL PAIRS! (Below): "TACK-EYE" STANDARD GRADE BLUEBILL PAIR! (Below): "GLASS EYE" STANDARD GRADE BLUEBILL PAIR!THE 4 PHOTOS SHOW The SLIGHTLY PLUMPER BODY STYLE of the GLASS-EYED & TACK-EYED MODELS -versus- THE SLIGHTLY NARROWER PAINT EYE MODELS! This decoy displays wonderfully and this decoy was prominently featured and it has always been pampered in the Temperature and Direct-Sunlight Controlled setting of the collection it has been for much of its existence, which is why you see little to no fading to this Beautiful Decoy's Paint!!
Overall, the paint is very dry and nice old and paint with a beautiful and naturally burnished semi-sheen or slightly shiny matte finish to it from being handled over the years. The excellent patina on this decoy really is nice and although it is very hard to capture it in photos, you can use the zoom feature in this listing to get a good look at the wonderful "texture" and "character" that the surface of this antique and important old gunning decoy has. This decoy was obviously rigged and gunned over more than a century ago, and it looks awesome for an old gunning bird from over a century ago. This Very Nice and Hard-to-Find "Painted-Eye". Hen Bluebill measures 13-3/4" long x 4-1/8" wide x 6 tall & Weighs 2-lbs.
Dimensions are Perfect for a Painted Eye Broadbill Model. That really is a typical size for a Painted-Eye Bluebill and it is also a testament to Mason's Incredible Quality Control and Exacting Standards that were outlined for their carvers and artists and they expected these standards to be executed with little or no tolerances. This is Just a Nice and Very Old Gunning Decoy that will complement any collection of vintage duck and shorebird decoys from a company that represents as big a part of American Decoy History as any other maker or carver. The Last 8 Photos are of other standard grade Mason Broadbill and Bluebill Decoys for your perusal including other Painted Eye Models, along with Glass and Tack Eyed Models! BELOW ARE PICTURES OF THE MASON FAMILY AND THE OLD HOUSE THAT MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THIS VERY HISTORIC DECOY MAKING ENDEAVOR!
BELOW are MORE PICTURES of OTHER STANDARD GRADE MASON BLUEBILL and BROADBILL DECOYS. Get Images that Make Supersized Seem Small. Auctiva's Listing Templates improve your auctions in minutes. Attention Sellers - Get Templates Image Hosting, Scheduling at Auctiva. The item "SCARCE PAINTED-EYE HEN BLUEBILL or BROADBILL c1905 MASON FACTORY Wood Duck Decoy" is in sale since Thursday, February 16, 2017. This item is in the category "Sporting Goods\Hunting\Vintage Hunting\Duck Decoys". The seller is "gjoldan" and is located in Romeo, Michigan. This item can be shipped worldwide.