John Zachmann Oversize Canvasback Drake

John F. Zachmann (1929-2017) Detroit, MI, c. 1958 29 in. long

A hollow decoy with carved bill detail and wing separation. William J. Mackey, Jr. called the four oversized decoys from this rig the largest of their kind he had ever seen.

Measuring twenty-nine inches in length, this decoy and three others were used as the lead birds in a rig with fifty to sixty standard-size divers, consisting mostly of canvasbacks. It is reported that Zachmann liked the way that ducks approached them and that he "would make more if he could come up with the time and material." Original paint with even gunning wear.

Provenance: John F. Zachmann Rig Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. Collection

Literature: "North American Decoys Magazine," Spanish Fork, UT, Oct-Dec 1968, p. 19, rigmate illustrated. Richard A. Bourne Co. Inc., "Very Rare and Important American Bird Decoys from the Collection of the late William J. Mackey, Jr. of Belford, New Jersey," Boston, MA, Session I, 1973, lot 239, rigmate illustrated. Gene and Linda Kangas, "Great Lakes Decoy Interpretations, "Concord, OH, 2011, p. 151, rigmates illustrated. Clune Walsh, Jr. and Lowell G. Jackson, "Waterfowl Decoys of Michigan and the Lake St. Clair Region," Detroit, MI, 1983, pp. 118-119, rigmate illustrated.

Provenance

John F. Zachmann Rig Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. Collection