Update Our ticketing, donations, and membership sales portal is down for scheduled maintenance on the afternoon of 4/11.
Carved in the figure of a spotted sandpiper with tack eyes, carved bill and split tail; it is painted in mellow shades of yellow, brown and black; stick-up decoy with the underside drilled with a hole and mounted on a modern black-painted standard base; the bird has a peg through the center of its back; it is in a feeder position.
decoys
painting (coating)
wood (plant material)
Decoy
In Cherished Possessions 2003-2005: The Littles loved decoys, which, when they began collecting them in the 1940s, were not the collectibles that they are today. Nina wrote, there is a indefinable quality inherent in the pose and the expression of some decoys that endows them with comical individuality and this, together with original paint, is what attracts us rather than date, rarity of maker, or conventional elements of design.
In ink on label on the stand's base: spotted sand piper
Original to Cogswell's Grant (Essex, Mass.),
Unknown
New England; New York, Long Island
8 (H) (inches)
Gift of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little
1991.868
Possibly New York state (United States)
Probably
Possibly
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].
Sign up to our newsletter for our latest news and events
