1984 TJ HOOKER Drake Goldeneye Wood Duck Decoy; STAMPED DUCKS UNLIMITED EDITION

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1984 TJ HOOKER Drake Goldeneye Wood Duck Decoy; STAMPED DUCKS UNLIMITED EDITION:
$277.51

1984 TJ HOOKER Drake Goldeneye Wood Duck Decoy; STAMPED DUCKS UNLIMITED "LimitedEdition"

Number 2094 LIMITED EDITION; Quebecand St. Lawrence Seaway Style

TJ's decoys put him in the Company ofTom Taber& other Carvers that Create Important Contributions toD.U. with Precision and Exactness!!

ThisHand Carved and HandPaintedDRAKE GOLDENEYEDUCK DECOY was made by T.J. Hooker, the renowned Ducks Unlimited carver from Crystal Lake, Illinois. Crystal Lake is 40 miles NW of Chicago and 25 miles duewest of Lake Michigan.Crystal Lakeis surrounded by a plethora ofinland lakes and marshes.Mr.Hooker carved many limited edition duck decoys for Ducks Unlimited in the late 1970's and mid 1980's,and this is one of those awesome decoys. He also carved many rigs of working decoys in addition to his DU carvings. He carved manyofhis Ducks Unlimited decoys following the style and patterns of the traditional master carvers including thework of Lem and Steve Ward and styles and forms following the birds from the Detroit River area, Illinois River and both ocean coasts to name a few. He was quoted by NBC News in an interviewstating that carving is both therapeutic for him as well as satisfying by following the looks and lines oftraditional master carvers of the first half of the 1900's. His DU decoys were carved and painted like many of the contemporary carverssuch as Tom Taberthat capture the essence of the great decoys and carvers from the past. Many of his decoys, like this Goldeneye up for sale, were carved and painted with stress relief and appear as vintage as the mint decoys that were carved in the early 1900's.

His ability to bring out everything that the grain of the wood has to offer is uncanny; not to mention his unique and beautiful style and form. He captures the distinctive traits of a species by accenting that part ofa bird that makes it unique including the great bulbous head on this goldeneye. In the case of this bird not only the headand billbut the overall dimensions andthe gorgeous sloping body.This decoy is hot stamped "1984-85; DUCKS UNLIMITED; LIMITED EDITION; T. J. Hooker" and hand written 2094.Thisgoldeneyeis clean, precise, interesting and requires a look-see by anyone that encounters this great decoy. Nice addition to your collection from a man who's name already graces manydiscriminating collector'sshelves around the world. TJ's work is of such a distinct and astoundingly similarity to the turn of the century decoys he forms from wood he is easily in thesame league, quality and attention to decoys made by centuries old masters that he deserves a place amongst theseelite carvers.This particularDrake Goldeneyedecoy is a phenomenal decoy that closely resembles the work of the great carvers from Quebec and in general the Upper St. Lawrence Seaway. It alsohas an incredible attitude that you don't see often in decoys that accentuates a species behavior. The long, upstretched neck and curved head on this decoy looks exactly like a big, mature, Drake Goldeneye that has just lit and is feverishly looking around for danger before settling down to feed or sleep. This decoy also was carved and painted with extraordinary symmetry and the big yellow glass eyes are perfectly mounted and located. The carving of this decoy may be its finest points. The wings, side feather panels and lowered tail are carved in perfectly. The head carving is undoubtedly some of his best work with great head/bill delineation, a neck that flows perfectly into the body and a truly outstanding head that puffs out like a big drake goldeneye. The paint job on this decoy is also superb with finely detailed wings, tail, back feathers, side feathers and head. This decoy measures 14" long x 6-1/2" wide x 8-3/8" tall and this solid red cedar decoy weighs 2-lbs. 3-zs.Great addition to any decoy collection from an awesome carver. If you have any questions or would like any additional photos feel free to ask.

The first17 photos are of this magnificentdrake goldeneyewhere art imitates history. Thenext photo isof another stunning goldeneye decoy carved by Mr.Hooker from this limited series along with a painting that was either fashioned after Hooker's carving or Hooker copiedthis decoy after to make a perfect painting and decoy DU series. The next photo is one of TJ's carvings of a Can following the Ward brothers lines. The next 2 photosare of one of his Illinois River pintails and a Drake Bluebill fashioned after a Detroit River bird. 2 of the last 3 photos are of some of TJ's finest work including a pair of West Coast influenced Green-Winged Teal and a Red-Breasted Merganser with an East Coast influence. The last photo is of a Wood Duck that has the look of many schools so I would hate to guess.

Tomorrow I am loading a pair of Chester "Chet" Schutte Canvasbacks that he hunted over near Rochester New York and also the Finger Lakes. They are c1928. You may have seen photos of his aluminum decoys that were fashioned after Mason decoys that are featured in every book about Mason decoys as well as any book that traces decoy history. Chester and his son pioneered forging aluminum decoys. You can see pics of his decoys in Gene and Linda Kangas Decoy Interpretations book or the May/June 1995issue of Decoy Magazine.

Also, to help buyers I will be giving a brief synoposis of decoys that I will be loading in the next few days after I load a decoy so you can do some research if you'd like. :) I hope that helps and also leads to good information I can include in my description.