Gus Wilson Preening Eider Drake

Augustus Aaron Wilson (1864-1950) Maine, c. 1900 This boldly carved sea duck is one of the finest traditional Maine decoys to ever be offered at public auction. The carving features an exceptionally rendered turned head with carved eyes and upper bill, and raised wings. This impressive sculpture epitomizes the decoy as American folk art.

The bird measures over seventeen-and-one-half-inches in length, and over eight-and-one-half-inches in width and height respectively. The two-piece construction features a prodigious eight-inch by four-inch inletted head which is canted, in keeping with the preening attitude of the bird. The bird’s bill tip just touches the back left corner of the inlay, fully completing the graceful turn. The bottom displays an anchor line ring fastened with an old fence staple.

Wilson was born “Down East,” on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Though he is foremost remembered as carver he was also a boat builder, waterman, outdoorsman, and lighthouse keeper. He was an attendant to a number of Maine’s lighthouses, including the Great Duck Island Light, Goose Rocks Station on Fox Island, Two Lights Station on Cape Elizabeth, Marshalls Point Light at Port Clyde and lastly Spring Point Light in Casco Bay. According to art historian, Gene Kangas, “his job as a lighthouse keeper provided financial security and ample time to facilitate rapid artistic advancement. Imaginative decoys and wildlife carving began to taking shape in an incredible variety of poses.”

Kangas describes Wilson as an esteemed fixture of Americana. Early regional traditions and requirements drove carvers to produce big solid decoys with modest paint patterns. “Seaworthiness, durability, practicality, effectiveness and affordability were essential considerations...Wilson’s genius is demonstrated by his ability to work within those existing traditions, yet elevate the Maine decoy to a higher level of artistic achievement.”

Wilson’s interests were, by no means, limited to decoys. He carved a variety of songbirds, decoratives, weathervanes, and big cats. A pair of Wilson’s tigers are featured in the American Identities exhibit, on display as a part of the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.

Though Wilson is widely celebrated for his variety of forms, it is important to note that no other preening eider drake in original paint has come to light. This rare and exceptional piece has never before been offered at public auction.

“Gus had a broadness of interest and artist’s eye that allowed him to come up with birds of such merit that they rivaled the best of the others... Gus Wilson looked at waterfowl much the way the Ward brothers did. There was a similarity in their ability to capture an unusual pose and to produce a decoy that continues to enthrall even the seasoned gunners who have spent their lives observing waterfowl.” -Maine decoy author and historian, Captain John Dinan In original paint with light even gunning wear. The tip of the bill has a very old chip on one side. There are age lines and tight cracks in the head and neck. The inletted portion has some original filler loss and one crack has later in-use filler.

Literature: Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco, American Vernacular: New Discoveries In Folk, Self-Taught, And Outsider Sculpture, New York, NY, 2002, p. 42, exact decoy illustrated. Gene Kangas, “Gus Wilson, Folk Artist”, Decoy Magazine, Lewes, DE, November/December 1994, pp. 8-13. Robert Shaw, Bird Decoys of North America, New York, NY, 2010, p. 149, similar decoy illustrated.