The Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center presents a new exhibition, “A. Elmer Crowell: Master of Decoys and More,” on view through January 25.
Elmer Crowell (1862‱952) of East Harwich, Mass., was a gifted bird carver and decoy maker. His work is prized by collectors for sheer beauty of form, detailed carving, and masterful, subtle brushwork.
Eleven never-before-exhibited, early pieces will be featured in the exhibition, including a Canada goose with a sinuously curved neck. This is a mate-piece to Crowell’s well-known preening goose and hissing gander, and has been described as the best of the three.
This same group includes a robust preening pintail, an inquisitively reaching black duck, a calling green-wing teal drake with hen and a snuggle-headed merganser. Visitors will also enjoy viewing four early shorebird decoys, three black-bellied plovers and a yellowlegs, in the same form as the famous decoys shown on the cover of William Mackey’s classic 1965 book, American Bird Decoys .
These pieces will be surrounded by other classic Crowell carvings of shorebirds, game birds and waterfowl, as well as an array of colorful songbirds. The carvings range in size from a miniature hummingbird only an inch in length to the life-size Canada goose.
Decoy enthusiasts will also be interested to see a carving marked with a previously undocumented Crowell oval brand with serif lettering.
For more information, www.massaudubon.org/visualarts or 781-821-8853.
