Albert Laing Hollow-carved Sleeping Scoter

Albert Davids Laing (1811-1886) Stratford, CT, c. 1850 “Among collectors today, no name is held in higher esteem than Albert Laing.” This is a quote from Henry Chitwood, author of the book Connecticut Decoys, speaking of the desire most decoy and folk art collectors have of owning an example by the father of the “Stratford school” of decoy carving. There is no evidence that Laing ever sold decoys commercially, and it is believed that at the time of his death the one hundred eleven decoys from his gunning rig constituted the majority of his entire output. Laing’s early yet refined style is so coveted today that very few collectors ever have the opportunity to own one of his carvings. According to Chitwood, Laing’s entire hunting rig was sold upon his death in 1886 for $45 (about 40 cents each).

Well ahead of his time, Laing’s innovative carving style incorporated several design insights into his craft including positioning the seam line of his hollow carved decoys above the waterline to prevent water from seeping into the seam. His decoys are carved with long sleek bodies and a full proud breast, made for the Housatonic River current. Perhaps his greatest contribution was adding a lifelike quality to his decoys utilizing a variety of head positions.

Many of the birds from Laing’s gunning rig were later acquired by fellow famous Statford carver Shang Wheeler (1872-1949). Wheeler is known to have converted the scoters in this rig into black ducks, by shaving down the bills and repainting them. This decoy was one of the birds that Wheeler converted into a black duck and was hunted by Wheeler until the 1940s. Marshall found the Laing decoy to be of significant historical value and decided to retire it from gunning. This bird sat on Marshall's shelf until the late 1950s when collector Dr. George Ross Starr, Jr. paid him a visit. Starr was able to negotiate a trade for the bird and held it in his esteemed collection for several decades. The next suitor for this well-documented carving was Laing historian and collector Ron Swanson. Having had some success with removing the overpaint on several other Laings, Swanson acquired the bird from Starr, and had the overpaint painstakingly removed and the bill reshaped by Ken DeLong, thus returning it to its original form. Carefully taken down to mostly original paint with some touch-up by Ken DeLong, bill has been professionally reshaped back to the proper scoter shape. Retains the original Laing tear-drop weight. Branded "Laing."

Provenance: Personal gunning rig of Albert Laing Shang Wheeler Gunnig Rig Tom Marshall Gunning Rig/Collection Dr. George Ross Starr, Jr. Collection Ron Swanson Collection Peter Brams Collection

Literature: D. Webster & W. Kehoe, Shelburne Museum Decoys, Shelburne, VT, 1961, p. 75. J. & S. Delph, New England Decoys, Atglen, PA, 1997, pp. 61-62. H. Chitwood, Connecticut Decoys, West Chester, PA, 1987, p. 65.

Provenance

Personal gunning rig of Albert Laing Shang Wheeler Gunnig Rig Tom Marshall Gunning Rig/Collection Dr. George Ross Starr, Jr. Collection Ron Swanson Collection Peter Brams Collection