Mark McNair Heron Head

Mark S. McNair (b. 1950) Craddockville, VA, c. 2010 A seventeen-inch-high, life-size carving of a heron's head and neck. This finished piece displays carved eyes, bill detail, and incised feather detail on the upper portion of the head. This "root head" carving was made from a single red cedar branch. The base is a chamfered block of purple heart-wood which was salvaged from a restoration of the tall ship "Susan Conant." Like the more famous "Mayflower II," in Plymouth, the "Susan Conant" is a replica of the original English ship which in 1606 brought one hundred and five colonists to the ill-fated Jamestown, Virginia settlement. The maker's incised signature is on one side of the base of the neck. Original condition.