The Mystery Decoys of Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin

Joe Engers over at DECOY Magazine sent a link to this video, which I hadn't seen before. It amplifies a post I did some time back on a mystery decoy from Lake Koshkonong which walked into the Edgerton decoy show years ago.

My favorite is on the second shelf from the top, far left: I tried to buy it, to no avail. It has wonderful lines, and a great head. Above it is another favorite.



For those interested in Koshonong decoys, there is a Facebook page. Little by little, more information shall come out.

My guess is that almost none of the surviving early Koshkonong decoys were made elsewhere, but were modeled on Upper Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River decoys brought out by early sport hunters. Else wise, why don't decoys by the same carvers show up on the Chesapeake? While they are very similar, they are not the same, and some of the Koshkonong pieces, like my two favorites, are far finer. It's a shame there aren't scores more of them.

Mysterious Decoy from Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin: Can you help?

This derelict canvasback decoy walked into the Edgerton (WI) Decoy Show two or three years ago, and no one who has seen it knows where it was made. Do you have any idea?

Click on the pic for a bigger version.

 

The body is thin -about 1 3/4 inches- and flat bottomed, like a wing duck. However, it has an early Koshkonong style ballast weight: a wrought iron bar, hammered into a point at one end and driven into the wood, while the other end is flattened and pierced for a screw.

 

There are distinct eye grooves, strongly defined jowls, and neck grooves. The eyes are metal tacks. The head is fastened on with a large screw driven in from the bottom, and two small nails in the front of the neck, driven in from the top.

There are no brands or other marks, and as you can see, precious little paint.

 

Everyone I have shown it to thinks it is from somewhere else, largely because "it is too nice to be early Wisconsin." They may be correct, but knowledgable people from elsewhere all deny that it was made in their area: Illinois, Ohio, Susquehanna Flats, Delaware River. Early members of the 19th century hunting clubs on Lake Koshkonong came from or hunted all of those places and more, so it could have come from anywhere.

None of the Wisconsin collectors who have seen it recognize it, but it could be a sole survivor. It is pretty fragile for the heavy use Koshkonong hunters gave their decoys, but that doesn't mean it wasn't made in the area. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

UPDATE 25 September 2014: There is now a FaceBook page for people interested in Koshkonong decoys.

Click here.

MDCA: National Antique Decoy Show

This year's national decoy show in St. Charles, Illinois, sponsored by the Midwest Decoy Collectors Association, is now history. Forthwith a few pics.

For a larger version, just click on the picture.


Merle Glick and Laura Gharst of the Lakeview Museum in Peoria staff the museum's table at the National Decoy Show.

Bill Rigsbee and Ken Trayer checking in decoys for the MDCA exhibit on pre-1930 factory decoys.

 

Getting ready for the show.

Kristin & Bob Lehmkuhl's exhibit on the relationship between 19th century Susquehanna Flats decoys and those of Wisconsin's Lake Koshkonong drew viewers throughout the show.

Bob Lehmkuhl discusses the exhibit.

Two 19th century canvasback decoys from the Lehmkuhls' exhibit.

Bill Rigsbee with a couple of his offerings.

Dick McIntyre showed some fine shorebirds again this year.

Noted collector Mark Smith discusses a shorebird with dealer Stephen B. O'Brien, Jr, and an assistant.

As usual, there was something for everyone.

One of two unusually fine canvasbacks by Gus Moak which were offered by a Wisconsin collector.

 

Slowing down?: One prominent Wisconsin collector didn't wear out much shoe leather in search of the Ultimate Decoy.

Edgerton Decoy Show on a sunny Saturday

I spent the day driving around southeastern Wisconsin. First to the decoy show in Edgerton, which is an hour and a bit SW of Milwaukee, and a trifle down-river from Lake Koshkonong, once the greatest canvasback shooting lake in America. Mostly I saw friends and smoozed with a couple people I didn't know before, and splurged on a bowl of chili which was highly recommended by a couple decoy aficionados. Turned out to be good enuf to go back for another bowl, which at a buck a pop constituted both a screaming deal and my total expenditures for the day. No, I take back that last: the show cost two bucks to get into.

One reason I go to the show is the hope some non-collecting local will walk in with a bag full of interesting decoys for sale. A fellow did show up with a box full, one of which was quite interesting, tho as usual in rough shape. He wanted ppl to tell him what they all were worth, including ten he hadn't brought along and wouldn't allow anyone to go see, said he wouldn't sell any anyway, and struck me as a tad belligerent, so some of us lost interest. I have no idea what happened with him or them.

The canvasback drake I liked (and was the only one anyone liked) seemed to have a body modeled after a Dodge from the 1880s, but was extremely hollow, unlike Dodges, and had a very nice head. Only the metal stems remained of the glass eyes, and the paint was heavily worn and flaking, but an interesting piece. So it goes.

Then off several miles to see a friend's decoy collection, and well worth the time that was, both for the decoys and the paintings stacked like cordwood around the place. I lost track of all the Owen Gromme oils hanging on the walls, and those were a small part of the oils from various periods and places.

Then eastward to the antique malls in Delavan and Lake Geneva, both of which are worth a look-see, but produced nothing worth parting with lucre, filthy or otherwise, for. I debated a late 19th century mahogany frame with gilded fillet but I have too durn many already and not enuf to fill them with- my interest in engravings of the Pacific tapers off in the 1840s.

It was a glorious blue sky day, and with a total of four clams out of pocket, plus gas, and friends, so all in all a good Saturday in the Wilds of Wisconsin.