Verity Family Black Bellied Plover

Obediah Verity (1813-1901) Seaford, NY, c. 1880 A plump bird with fine square beetle head form, deeply carved heart-shaped wings, forward-looking, deeply incised eyes and a tenoned-through and splined hardwood bill. This alert shorebird displays the makers very best stippled feather paint and is one of the finest straight-head Verity carvings to come on the market. This bird is nearly identical in form and patination to the four black-bellied plovers illustrated in E. Jane Townsend's "Gunner's Paradise." Retains dry original paint, with the typical second coat of black to the breast and bill. A few shot marks and even gunning wear. Beautiful tight, even craquelure throughout. A hairline crack runs through one wing.

Provenance: Peter Brams Collection, acquired from Bud Ward Private Collection, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Literature: Henry Fleckenstein, Jr., "Shore Bird Decoys," Exton, PA, 1980, pp. 42-43, color plates XII, XIV and XVI, similar birds illustrated. Quintina Colio, "American Decoys," New York, NY, 1972, p. xiii, similar birds illustrated. William Mackey, Jr., "American Bird Decoys," New York, NY, 1965, p. 102, similar bird illustrated. Townsend, E. Jane, "Gunner's Paradise: WIldfowling and Decoys on Long Island," Lanham, MD, 1988, pp. 115-116, similar birds illustrated.

Provenance

Peter Brams Collection, acquired from Bud Ward Private Collection, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts