Orlando Os Bibber Long Tail Duck Hen

Orlando Sylvester "Os" Bibber (1882-197) South Harpswell, ME, c. 1910 Orlando Sylvester "Os" Bibber (1882-1970) South Harpswell, ME, c. 1910 An outstanding Maine coastal decoy with a sleek, stylized form. The paint on this decoy is subtly, but expertly blended, with lighter browns on the breast shifting to darker tones along the back. In "The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys," John Dinan writes, "Bibber's birds are the best carvings on the coast... He made decoys for his own use... not many oldsquaws are known." Bibber’s long-tailed ducks along with the exceptional oldsquaws produced by Joseph Lincoln (1859-1938) are considered some of the finest sea ducks ever crafted. This hen created in Bibber’s best long-bodied style is currently the only example to have surfaced. In very good original paint with a 1/4 inch professional restoration to the blunted bill tip. A small ding on left side of body and very old minor ding to back.

Provenance: John Dinan Collection

Literature: Joe Engers, ed., "The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys," Lewes, DE, 1990, pp. 33-35. Guyette & Schmidt Inc., North American Decoys at Auction, St. Michaels, MD, July 29 and 30, 2006, lot 83, p. 29, exact bird illustrated.

Provenance

John Dinan Collection