Charles Perdew Illinois River Hen Mallard Decoy

Description

Vintage Charles Perdew Hen Mallard Duck Decoy in old repaint. Charlie, together with his wife Edna, lived on the bank of the river in Henry, Illinois. Married in 1902, they formed a partnership in their decoy and decorative bird carving venture. For a period, Charlie did most of the carving and Edna the painting. After Edna became ill, Charlie did both the carving and the painting. This decoy shows what appears to be an old repaint, very similar in appearance and pattern to the original. A glimpse of what appears to be the original paint can be seen on some of the flaked off areas underneath the decoy. Perhaps the first painting was done by Edna, and the repaint by Charlie or more likely, some other painter such as Ervin Redshaw of Granville,  Illinois. The glimpse of the old original paint appears bright and in good condition from what can be seen, raising the possibility that the repaint paint might even be able to be removed if desired. The lead keel shows Perdew's name, Henry for his town, ILL  and the dot code he used for the date of carving, I believe this code indicates the year 1939. This decoy is in excellent shape, no cracks or repairs, a solid example of a classic Perdew Mallard decoy by a master carver