George Boyd The Mccleery Boyd Merganser Hen

George Boyd (1873-1941) Seabrook, NH, c. 1910 18 ½ in. long

"Jim reserved special spots on his shelves, fireplace, and walls for his favorite birds. I remember the first time I saw the George Boyd Mergansers on display in his home. The turned-head hen swimmer graced Jim’s coffee table alongside the famous dovetailed goose and Crowell’s preening goose. Her presence was bold and animated; I was so enamored looking at those three birds, it was a half hour before I realized that Jim owned a matching drake!”

— Stephen O’Brien Jr.

This racy decoy features a long, wide body with a broad paddle tale. The delicately carved head is turned to the left approximately thirty degrees with a forward-reaching and uplifted posture. The surface features both concise paint patterns and the artist’s finest stippled paint along the sides and across the back. True to the sex, Boyd used amber glass eyes for this hen, contrasting the red eyes of the drake. The pencil-thin upturned bill is tipped with nail carving. The underside of the hen is partly hollowed out from the bottom and retains the “McCLEERY” ink stamp.

As a testament to Dr. McCleery’s opinion of this bird, it held a special place resting atop the coffee table in his living room, alongside his preening Canada goose by A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952) and dovetailed goose. This sentiment was echoed in the McCleery Auction flier in which the Boyd mergansers were the most prominently featured birds after the Crowell goose. Excellent original paint with light even gunning wear, a tight age crack along the bottom, and anchor line wraps around the neck.

Provenance: Dr. George and Hope Wick Collection Dr. James M. McCleery Collection Private Collection Thomas M. Evans Jr. Collection

Literature: Sotheby's and Guyette & Schmidt, "American Waterfowl Decoys: The Distinguished Collection of Dr. James M. McCleery," New York, NY, 2000, lot 150 and p. 228, exact decoy illustrated. Ronald J. Gard and Robert Shaw, eds., "The McCleery Auction," Dallas, TX, 2001, p. 175, exact decoy illustrated. Jim Cullen, "Finely Carved and Nicely Painted: The Life, Art and Decoys of George H. Boyd, Seabrook, NH, 1873-1941," Rye, NH, 2009, p. 36, exact decoy illustrated. Stephen B. O'Brien Jr. and Chelsie W. Olney, "Elmer Crowell: Father of American Bird Carving," Hingham, MA, 2018, p. 279, exact decoy illustrated.

Provenance

Dr. George and Hope Wick Collection Dr. James M. McCleery Collection Private Collection Thomas M. Evans Jr. Collection