John English The O'brien English Pintail Hen

John English (1848-1915) Florence, NJ, c. 1880 15 3/4 in. long

This is among the finest Delaware River pintail decoys known, showing the region's premier maker at the height of his abilities. It hails from the collection of Donal C. O'Brien Jr., who also owned the record-setting rigmate, the singular, exalted English Pintail Drake.

Authors Huster and Knight describe this exact decoy in “Floating Sculpture” as a "rare pintail hen in winter plumage made by John English." They also chose a painting of an English pintail hen as the front dust-jacket feature of their book. This decoy has highly refined form and carving detail, including raised "V" wing tips and layered tail feathers. The brushwork complements the sculpture, with echoing “V” feathering and fine details from head to tail.

Donal C. O’Brien’s English pintail drake and hen together show a design foresight of the maker that has not been seen elsewhere. As this hen is dominated by the “V” shape, the drake shows a series of clean “S” curves through its form and paint design. A testament to this hen’s importance, the drake that it was paired with is one of the Delaware River’s most iconic carvings and holds the auction record for the entire region. Excellent original paint with even gunning wear, old gunning darkening to tail edge chips. Line wrap rub to left shoulder and minor wear to lower right breast.

Provenance: Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection Bruce Williams Collection Matt Geis Collection

Literature: Harrison Huster and Doug Knight, "Floating Sculpture: The Decoys of the Delaware River," Spanish Fork, UT, 1982, front cover has a stylized illustration of an English pintail hen, p. 54, exact decoy illustrated. Joe Engers, ed., “The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys,” San Diego, CA, 1990, p. 127, exact decoy illustrated.

Provenance

Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection Bruce Williams Collection Matt Geis Collection