Solid Mason Premier Factory Bluebill Scaup Duck Decoy in Excellent Condition NR
Working Mason Premier Bluebill Duck Decoy. Circa 1910's, this fine Mason Premier bluebill duck decoy is a great find. In nearly all original paint with typical gunning wear, this fine specimen has all the best attributes of a Mason Premier decoy.
Excellent paint, great form, and an attitude. It simply has that desirable look that sets Mason factory birds apart from other early 20th century factory decoy makers. I'll let the photos do most of the talking, but this solid-bodied bird is a real sweetheart.
C on the bottom, likely the original owners-rig mark/initials. In nearly all original worn paint with very minimal touch up, if any. Check out the photos and see for yourself what a fine bird this truly is.
The head is very slightly loose. I have done my best to document this decoy through both the text above and the photographs.I will do my best to accommodate any and all requests. The decoy you are seeing is the exact one you will be getting, therefore, there should be no surprises if you have taken the time to scroll through all the photos and read the text. Unless the decoy is listed in 100% original paint, expect some old hunter touch-up. Almost every single decoy I have for sale was in fact a working decoy part of a larger rig and subject to typical gunning wear including rubs that were typically touched-up between hunting seasons as a way to pass the time during the off-season. Some of these decoys are more than 100 years old and over the course of many hunting seasons it is bound to happen.
An excerpt from the Ward Museum on Mason Decoys. Though the factory had a humble beginning in a shed behind William Mason's house, the business burgeoned and moved two times before closing down. Mason did not run the factory himself, but left that responsibility in the capable hands of one of his sons, Herbert. Many Mason decoys are still in working condition. Their continuing popularity and durability is owed to the Mason carvers who took pride in their work and created the best product possible.
There is nothing fancy about Mason decoys, but the shape of a head, arch of a neck or detailed bill carving keep these decoys from being ordinary. Earlier models have chubby faces, flat bottoms and a pronounced slope of the breast. On later models, the breast is less exaggerated and the decoys have an overall sleeker look. Over the years, the paint jobs done by hand remained consistently superior with blended colors under dotted, spattered, stippled and streaked designs. Mason's Decoy Factory produced several different grades of decoys: Premier, Challenge, No. 2 Tack Eye and No. These are the names used by the company; collectors will often refer to Nos. I, 2 and 3 collectively as "Detroit" or "standard" grade.In addition to the popular mallards, canvasbacks and scaup, Mason carvers produced old squaws, swans, white-winged scoters, wood ducks, crows and doves. Mason's Decoy Factory must have produced thousands of decoys during its twenty or thirty some years of operation.
I say most because as you see some decoys will have a modest/fair-market reserve. Call it down-sizing if you will. If a decoy doesn't meet reserve, let's talk. NOTE: As with most sporting collectibles, along with being a great addition to a game room or home decor, vintage decoys have shown to be a sound investment that seldom decrease in value. Each decoy is truly a One-Of-A-Kind item as no two hand-carved decoys are exactly alike and with so few available decoys from each carver, as time passes, they will surely only increase in value.
Be sure to add my to your favorite sellers/searches. I have many more decoys to add from all regions including the Chesapeake Bay, Ontario, Quebec, Michigan, New York, Illinois, the St. The item "Solid Mason Premier Factory Bluebill Scaup Duck Decoy in Excellent Condition NR" is in sale since Tuesday, August 08, 2017. This item is in the category "Sporting Goods\Hunting\Vintage Hunting\Duck Decoys". The seller is "dckhuntr" and is located in Butler, Pennsylvania. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada.