Lee Dudley (NC, 1860-1942), Widgeon

Knotts Island, North Carolina, circa 1900, carved and painted wood.

Length 12.5

From the Personal Collection of Mr. Kroghie Andresen Charlotte, North Carolina

Purchased from the Gilmore estate in 2012. Gilmore was a wildlife enforcement agent who worked Back Bay and the northern Currituck Sound.

Lee Dudley decoys are perhaps the most coveted of all decoy makers. This example is structurally intact. Quoting Gene and Linda Kangas in Decoys: A North American Survey, "A visual study of the complete Dudley bird form, whatever the species, reveals an uninterrupted flow from bill tip to tail's end. The successful manner in which the bill fits into the lower cheeks, the cut of the neck-base, sweeping powerful chest, and smooth, curved body combine into one of the finer sculptural solutions in the decoy world."

Old gunning paint, bill repair by Cameron McIntyre, hit by shot.