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American Bird Decoys
Resources

Consulting Services for Collectors Articles by Robert Shaw Tools of Deception: A History of American Bird Decoys Joel Barber: The Lost Birds Regional Traditions and Masters The McCleery Collection

Recommended Reading American Bird Decoys, William J. Mackey, New York: Dutton, 1965 Classic surrey by the most influential collector of his time. The sale of Mackey's immense collection in the early 1970s was a seminal event. The Art of the Decoy:American Bird Carvings, Adele Earnest, New York: Random House, 1965. Insightful study by one of the great early folk art dealer/collectors. Decoys: A North American Survey, Gene and Linda Kangas, Salt Lake City: Hillcrest Publications, 1983, Still the most comprehensive and useful survey, encompassing all of North America. The Decoy as Folk Sculpture: An Exhibition of Waterfowl and Fish Decoys from the Collections of Ronald Swanson and Julie and Michael Hall, Michael Hall and Ronald Swanson, Bloomfield Hills, MI: Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, 1986. Hard to find catalog of exhibition combining two great collections. Hall's essay "Marsh Trek: The Dilemma of Decoys" is worth the price of admission alone. Wild Fowl Decoys, Joel Barber, New York: Derrydale Press, 1934. The first book on decoys by the pioneer collector and artist. The best written and most charming decoy book ever, with many important insights into what Barber called "floating sculpture." Barber's collection was acquired by The Shelburne Museum after his death in 1954 and is exhibited in the Museum's Dorset House.

Books by or with contributions by Robert Shaw

Purchase

America's Traditional Crafts
Includes a chapter on decoys, along with section on tools, canes, scrimshaw, baskets, stoneware, Native American beadwork, boxes, country furniture, Western leatherwork, quilts, and much more,

"Probably the information source on major U.S. crafts."
-Booklist

Hardcover, 14 x 11 in., over 300 color photos, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1992. ISBN: 0-88363-693-X.

Purchase

Call to the Sky: The Decoy Collection of James M. McCleery, M.D.
Catalog of 1992 Houston Museum of Natural Science exhibition of the greatest decoy collection of all time. Dr. McCleery's collection was sold at Sotheby's in New York in 2000, where it brought more than $11,000,000.

Hardcover,7.5 x 10.25 in., 120 pp., 60 full page color photos. Gulf Publishing Company, 1992. ISBN: 0-88415-057-7.

Purchase

The Great Book of Wildfowl Decoys
A huge, comprehensive survey with hundreds of full-color photographs. Presents decoys by region, from Canada down the Atlantic Coast, inland along streams and rivers to Louisiana, up the Mississippi to the Great Lakes, and across to California and Oregon. I wrote the introduction and a chapter on collecting decoys..

Hardcover, 14.7 x 10.8 in., 320 pages, The Lyons Press; ISBN: 1585741205.

Purchase

The McCleery Auction
Includes remembrances of Jim, McCleery, symposium presentations, stories from the New York Times and other major publications, and a personal note by Kitty Mackey, daughter of William Mackey

"While the final word regarding the James McCleery auction/collection may never be in, the definitive words on the subject have recently been published. Shaw and Gard have not only paid tribute to one of world's greatest collectors, they have also paralleled his ideals with their effort."
-Antiques & the Arts Weekly

"... like having a wonderful scrapbook, all beautifully assembled by the editors, of the most memorable and important event in the history of decoy collecting."
-Decoy Magazine

Hardcover, 10.25 x 10.25 in., 214 pp., over 100 color photos. Lake Emma Press, 2001. ISBN: 0-9705508-1-2