Jake Barrett Red-breasted Merganser Pair

Jake Barrett Somers Point, NJ, c. 1890 15 1/2 in. long

A hollow pair of merganser decoys with refined and delicate carving, including thin crests, bills, and tails. Each also has a gentle shoulder carving, not often seen in this region. They are attached to wooden bases. The inscriptions on undersides of both bases has an early misattribution. It reads "American Merganser / Made by Harry Shourds Tuckerton, N.J." The drake's right side bears a museum identification code "A51.77" in red paint. The hen's right side bears a museum identification code "A51.78" in red paint. Two of the best Barrett decoys to ever be offered for sale. In nice dry early gunning paint with light wear. The hen has a crack in the thin crest and drake has three paint flakes to the head.

Provenance: Walter L. Bush Collection Collection of a New York City Museum, acquired from the above in 1953

Literature: Eugene Connett, ed., "Duck Shooting Along the Atlantic Tidewater," New York, NY, 1947, p. 111, bottom row, related decoys illustrated. James R. Doherty, "Classic New Jersey Decoys," Louisville, KY, 2011, p. 159, pl. 331, related Canada goose illustrated. Henry A. Fleckenstein Jr., "New Jersey Decoys," Exton, PA, 1983, p. 147, related bufflehead pairs illustrated. Henry A. Fleckenstein Jr., "Decoys of the Mid-Atlantic Region," Exton, PA, 1979, p. 27, related bufflehead pair illustrated. Kenneth L. Gosner, “Working Decoys of the Jersey Coast and Delaware Valley,” Cranbury, NJ, 1985, p. 146, related bluebill illustrated.

Provenance

Walter L. Bush Collection Collection of a New York City Museum, acquired from the above in 1953