Alvery Alvirah Wright The O'brien Wright Ruddy Duck

Alvery "Alvirah" Wright (1872-1951) Duck, NC, c. 1900 10 3/4 in. long

“...the overall importance of Carolina’s bays and sounds in the wildfowl picture almost demands that decoy collections contain some example of Carolina origin.” — William J. Mackey Jr., “American Bird Decoys”

Captain Al, as Wright was known by his contemporaries, was a boatbuilder and tugboat captain. During North Carolina’s booming waterfowl days, he applied his skills to a limited number of decoys. Past Shelburne Museum curator Robert Shaw observes, “His ruddy ducks, redheads, and canvasbacks can be described only as mighty; even the tiny ruddies have a visceral, almost monumental physical presence achieved by few other carvers, with deep, solid, boat-shaped bodies, sharply sloping lower sides, and powerfully angular heads.” As Shaw suggests, North Carolina collector and author Kroghie Andresen states directly, “The Wright ruddy ducks have the best form of all the species that he carved.”

Since Joel Barber’s historic collecting trip to Knotts Island approximately a century ago, the rare ruddy duck decoys have been a prized export, and Wright is among the species' best representatives. These high heads were often broken and lost, making this decoy that kept its original head all the more impressive. This grand humpbacked decoy from the O’Brien Collection was chosen for Fleckenstein's "Southern Decoys" book and is among the finest intact Wrights to have survived. Old gunning paint with wear, including small chips on top left side of head and an old stabilizing nail remaining in chips along top of tail.

Provenance: Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection Ronald Swanson Collection Dr. Peter J. Muller Jr. Collection

Literature: Henry A. Fleckenstein Jr., "Southern Decoys of Virginia and The Carolinas," Exton, PA, 1983, pl. XLV, p. 48, exact decoy illustrated. Kroghie Andresen, "Gunnin' Birds," Charlotte, NC, 2008, pp. 275-276, related examples illustrated. Robert Shaw, "Bird Decoys of North America," New York, NY, 2010, p. 218, Wright ruddy ducks discussed. Robert Shaw, "Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D.," Houston, TX, 1992, p. 87, closely related example illustrated.

Provenance

Donal C. O'Brien Jr. Collection Ronald Swanson Collection Dr. Peter J. Muller Jr. Collection