Ward Brothers Pair of Black Duck

The Ward Brothers Lemuel T. (1896-1984) and Stephen (1895-1976) Crisfield, MD, c. 1950

A fine pair of collector’s grade, balsa body black ducks. Each decoy is signed in ink on the bottom one reading, “Female Black Duck (Anas Rubripes) by L.T. Ward – Bro. Crisfield, MD ‘Collector’s Grade.’” and the other, “Male Black Duck (Anas Rubripes) by L.T. Ward - ro. Crisfield, MD ‘Collector’s Grade.’” In excellent original paint. Drake has a minute chip to tip of raised primary feather and a dot of touch up on its back. The hen has touch up to wing tips and underside of tail and a tight age line around its neck.

Literature: Roy E. Walsh, Gunning the Chesapeake: Duck and Goose Shooting on the Eastern Shore, Cambridge, MD, 1960, pp. 70-71. Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr., Decoys of the Mid-Atlantic Region, Exton, PA, 1979, p. 180.