Ducks Unlimited Cinnamon Teal

In the spring of 2008 Jordan and I were nearing the end of our time in the DC area, we just didn't know it yet.  We had found a nice place in Old Town Alexandria, were both doing well in our jobs, and Jordan was expecting Frances (we may not have known that yet either!).  We learned of the Alexandria Ducks Unlimited Banquet that April and decided to go.  As it turned out, it was quite the affair, hosted at River Farm in Alexandria.  Now home to the American Horticultural Society headquarters, the Farm once belonged to George Washington.  We were a bit out of our league, but the entire evening was great.  The auctions were all way out of our price range, but we did spend the $50 for raffle tickets and a door prize.  The door prize turned out to be a nice, little cinnamon teal decoy, well worth every penny.

The markings on the bottom of the decoy aren't helpful in identifying the year, but I obviously remember well when and where I got it.  Unfortunately, I have no idea who carved the original from which this decoy was made.  The likely guess is that it was Jett Brunet, but I can't find anything to confirm that.  Either way, it has a great shape and I really like the finish.  The cinnamon parts look like a very light paint or heavy stain, just barely allowing some of the wood grain to show through.  The rest of the colors are more of a traditional paint finish.

The cinnamon teal shares a shelf with my original mini-mag tackle box and some of my first lures, and a blue wing teal decoy.  They are not matching decoys, the blue wing was not from Ducks Unlimited, but they are similar in size and look great together.  Now I just need to find a green wing to add to the collection!

My First Decoy

Profile of this beautiful working bluebill decoy

This was the first decoy in my collection, and the only one I had for several years.  Jordan was interning for Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC after her second year of law school.  I flew out to visit her and we made a day trip to her childhood home in the Washington's Crossing/Titusville area of New Jersey.  We went tubing on the Delaware River and stopped in the Decoys and Wildlife Gallery in Frenchtown.  At $225 we may have overpaid for it, I really have no idea, but it is a beautiful decoy.

Bottom and top views

The carver if the decoy is unknown, but the seller identified it as being from the late '30's or early '40's, and that it had been hunted over on the Delaware River.  The piece of metal on the bottom looks to be original, but I'm not sure how a weight was attached, or how it may have been attached to a decoy line.  The decoy has painted eyes and a hollow body, and is in nice shape except for the slight separation of the top and bottom halves.

You can see the separation between the top and bottom halves

Given that it was the first decoy I had purchased, and that Jordan and I had picked it out together, it holds a special place in the collection.  It is on the south wall, sharing a shelf with my duck calls and some other memorabilia.

The bluebill holds a special place in the collection