curator's corner
Adze to Whittling Knife CHESAPEAKE BOAT BUILDERS AS DECOY CARVERS A closer look at those featured in CBMM’s newest waterfowling exhibition by Pete Lesher
10 WINTER 2021
THE CHESAPEAKE LOG
Above: Leonard Pryor’s blackhead decoy, seen here with the pattern used to shape the head and his lipped adze, was made late in his life. Adze and pattern, collection of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, 2006.6.38, .75. Decoy, collection of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
HE SHALLOW, SHELTERED COVES and marshy edges of the Chesapeake Bay lured duck hunters from near and far in the 19th and early 20th centuries, from local gunners sending their seasonal harvest of birds to city markets, to urban industrialists seeking respite in the natural environs. Elegant, sculptural duck decoys are a testament to the ecological richness of this biologically productive region. This part-time occupation, or sport, required several essential tools: shotguns, boats or shoreside blinds, and a multitude of decoys. Guns were a specialty item, relatively scarce in the early days of waterfowling. Boats and decoys, on the other hand, were often sourced locally—and it was not unusual for the boat and the decoys to be constructed and provided by the same person. Boatbuilding, generally a full-time occupation, and decoy carving, more typically a sideline, employed overlapping carpentry skills. Chesapeake boatbuilders were practiced woodcarvers. The better trained usually carved a half model as a planning tool before building a new vessel. Shaping a keel, particularly the rabbet or bevel where planking meets the keel, likewise required carving skills. Consequently, it is not surprising that boatbuilders also carved wooden decoys. Boatbuilder James T. Holly (1849–1935) of Havre de Grace, Md., the son of celebrated fisherman, gunner, and
