Lot 5055
Harry Capps (NC, 1890-1950), Important Dowitcher
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Length 9.5 in.
Harry Oliver Capps was born and raised on the extreme southern end of Knotts Island. He was a farmer, waterman, and market hunter. Like most residents of Knotts Island, hunting ducks and shorebirds was a fine way to make a living. So was the case with Harry, but according to family members, he was particularly fond of hunting shorebirds. After shorebird hunting was outlawed, Harry left nine dowitcher shorebird decoys hanging on a string in the old family barn in southern Knotts Island. They were not discovered until the early 1990s when his grandson Harold Clark Capps emptied the barn of all its contents before it burned to the ground. Rig mates are published on page 192 of Shorebird Decoys of North Carolina by Kroghie Andresen and Philip Harvey, pages 106 and 107 of Gunnin' Birds by Kroghie Andresen, and page 21 of ArtDuckO: Waterfowl Culture in North Carolina published by the North Carolina Museum of History.
Original paint, oxidation to iron bill.
