Albert Laing Early Tucked-head Black Duck

Albert Davids Laing (1811-1886) New York, NY, c. 1835 14 in. long

In 1918, the Laing family moved from Rathaway, New Jersey, to a residence they named Laingside in New York City on the East River. Albert Laing's father, a merchant, opened a shop at 250 Pearl Street adjacent to the Fulton Fish Market. With direct access to this prime trading post, the young Laing became a market hunter.

“Considering functional design,” writes Laing authority Ronald S. Swanson, “Laing’s decoys are extremely successful. Minimum weight, compactness and durability are combined with accuracy of species and an attitude of quiet repose to create a highly effective working decoy. The quality of Laing’s designs accounts for his influence of the makers of the Stratford school and the lower Delaware River and perhaps other areas…”

In 1863 Laing purchased a house in Stratford, Connecticut, where he lived as a gentleman farmer. His decoy rig went north with him where it had a tremendous impact on the next generation of the areas decoy makers and hunters. His rig totaling over one hundred decoys was hunted over for many decades after his passing and the carvings became the template for the Stratford School of decoy making. Notably, Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler and Louis Rathmell are perhaps the only two early followers of Laing who approached the high bar that Laing set. His stylistic influence also appears to have extended to the Delaware River, as directly seen in the rig of his cousins, Richard Wistar Davids (1825–1863) and Caspar W. Morris (1806-1877).

This elegant early Laing has a head that is deeply tucked into the sleek thin body which has slight wing separation in the back. Old working paint with gunning wear and roughness to tail.

Provenance: John Dillon Collection

Literature: Ronald S. Swanson, "Albert D. Laing: A decoy maker unequaled in his time," Decoy Magazine, Burtonsville, MD, July/August 1995, front cover, pp. 8-16, related decoys illustrated and discussed. Copley Fine Art Auctions, "The Sporting Sale 2006," July 26-27, 2006, lot 358, exact decoy illustrated.

Provenance

John Dillon Collection