Working Decoys of the Jersey Coast and Delaware Valley Kenneth L. Gosner 1985

Description: Minor shelf handling wear to pages with some browning from age. Cover with some handling. Dust jacket has some wear and tear as shown in pictures. Lists ISBN 084534711X and 0879825006. OCR scan: Working Decoysof the Jersey Coastand Delaware Valley KENNETH L. GOSNERKenneth Gosner's objectives in Work-ing Decoys of the Jersey Coast and Dela-ware Valley are threefold. He begins byputting the making of New Jersey work-ing decoys in historical perspective,starting at about the middle of the lastcentury when great changes in humanpopulations and communication raisedthe market demand for wild game andfarever altered the bucolic lives of thepreviously isolated dwellers of the coast.The decoy tradition flowered through anensuing "golden age" of gunning thatwas, however, already entering a declineby the turn of the century. Here, the au-thor also traces changes in public at-titudes and legal control that furtheraffected the taking of wild birds for plea-sure and profit.Another section of the book is devotedto the stylistic traits of New Jersey de-coys, their relationship to decoys fromother areas, and the reasons behindthese specific developments. Local var-iations within the three major NewJersey traditions are examined throughthe work of important makers. As an aidto identification and authentication, spe-cial emphasis is placed on the pecu-liarities that distinguish the decoys of in-dividual carvers and painters. Thishighly detailed stylistic analysis is amplysupported by scale drawings, maps, andphotographs. In all, the work of seventy-five makers is shown in hundreds of illus-trations, including many in color.The final objective of this book is torelate decoy making to the natural his-tory of the many species of waterfowland shorebirds represented in NewJersey decoy traditions. The field marksand the traits that affected their impor-tance as game are described and relatedto a generous sampling of illustrations ofdecoys for each kind of bird.Working Decoys will be of value notonly to the collector, curator, and studentof decoys, but also to those who admireand enjoy the living birds that inspiredthe creations which, in their own time,were mainly utilitarian, and today are es-teemed as bona fide works of art.

Price: 70 USD

Location: Auburn, Washington

End Time: 2024-11-26T01:44:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.63 USD