Ward Brothers Important Decorative Pintail Pair

Lemuel T. Ward (1896-1984) Crisfield, MD, 1961 This magnificent pair of birds was made by Ward for Col. John M. Leavens (1907-1987), a Harvard Law School graduate, WWII veteran, and a resident of Summit, New Jersey and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Leavens, a decoy collector in the 1960s, wrote an article about the Wards in a 1964 "Decoy Collector's Guide" and wrote an entire chapter in Cheever's book on the Ward Brothers.

They are a magnificently carved pair of pintail decoys made for a friend and biographer of the Ward Brothers. The drake has intricately detailed paint and raised and carved wing feathers. The bottom of the drake reads "Hollow Pine by L.T. Ward, Crisfield, MD, -1961-." The rare turned-head preening hen has an extensively carved raised wing and carved tail feathers.

The bottom of the hen reads "Female Pintail, Hollow Cedar. Made for John Leavens Collection by L.T. Ward, Crisfield, MD, -1961-." Original paint with light craquelure to head of drake.

Provenance: John M. Leavens Collection Private Collection, by descent in the family

Literature: Byron Cheever ed., "L. T. Ward and Bro. :Wildfowl Counterfeiters," Spanish Fork, UT, p. 36, color plate 12, exact decoys illustrated. Hal Sorenson, "Decoy Collector's Guide," Burlington, IA, Oct.-December, 1964, p. 29, exact decoys illustrated.

Provenance

John M. Leavens Collection Private Collection, by descent in the family