LOREN P. PINSKI
Wild Goose Island Carving Studio

ANTIQUE STYLE DECOYS

A couple of years ago I received a commission for an antique style decoy. To properly carve the decoy, I spent a great deal of time studying the style and techniques of decoy carvers from the 19th and early 20th centuries. I have found the design, the painting style and the warmth of the patina a favorite style for me to carve.

These two pictures are of an OldSquaw decoy. These are sea ducks and this style of decoy would have been used off the coast of Maine.

The first carving is a red breasted Merganser. The second picture is of thirty eight, antique style shore birds that I carved for a Fortune 500 Corporation. There are Avocets, Yellowlegs, Black necked Stilts, and Ruddy Turnstones. That's Anna, our Vizsla, she is keeping the birds under control.

The first carving is an antique style Wood Duck and the second is a Loon. Normally Loons would not be used as a decoy but they are such a classy bird with such a unique style, I simply wanted to carve one.

The first bird is a replica of a Cobb Island Bufflehead. The second carving is a replica of a Caines Brothers Mallard. Cobb Island is off the coast of Virginia and the Caines Brothers carved in South Carolina.

The is an antique style Red Breasted Merganser. I have tried to age the paint to make it look like it has sat outside for years. The second picture shows the distressed paint.