Eastern Shore swan decoy
“High Head” Swan Decoy
Earle W. Orem (1877-1964), Dorchester County, Maryland
c. 1900-1920
carved wood with working paint
Ht. 26 1/2", L. 24"
A rare, elegant, and iconic confidence decoy.
Provenance: Orem Family; Robert Richardson, Cambridge, MD; Michael and Julie Hall, 1974-2005; Tim Hill; Private New York Collection
Exhibition: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, “The Decoy as Folk Sculpture,” 27 January – 22 February 1987 (illustrated in catalogue).
Literature: Richardson, Chesapeake Bay Decoys: The Men Who Made and Used Them (1973), p. 5 (illus.); Ricco & Maresca, American Primitive: Discoveries in Folk Sculpture (1988), p. 154, fig. 213.