Atlantic, North Carolina, circa 1920, carved and painted wood, mounted loosely on a vintage thumb pump oil can.

Length 8 in.

Former collection of Roy Willis.

The Irvin Morris "clothespin snipe" as they were originally called in Henry Fleckenstein's book Southern Decoys of Virginia and the Carolinas, was one of the early shorebird decoys that Roy Willis introduced to the decoy collecting community. The form of these decoys immediately captured the fancy of Southern shorebird collectors. They are folksy due to the knob head but the overall form is very functional.

Age check down the back, bill a professional replacement by Roy Willis.