Standing Preening Black Duck

A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952)

East Harwich, MA, c. 1915

A rare life-size turned-head black duck mantel carving retaining the maker's oval brand on the bottom. This exceptional carving exhibits blended detailed feather painting, life-like bill detail, carved primary wing feathers and fluted tail carving. Crowell made far fewer life-size decorative waterfowl carvings than shorebirds and miniatures. The scale and detail required far more time, and as a result the number of life-size waterfowl carvings can only be counted in the dozens.

Original paint with craquelure on the fore and aft end grain. A small section of one gesso foot and two toenails are missing. Five faint letters of the otherwise crisp brand have been reinforced in ink.

Private Collection, Midwest

Brian Cullity, "The Songless Aviary: The World of A.E. Crowell & Son," Sandwich, MA, 1992, p. 82, figure 44, similar bird illustrated.