Duck Decoys

When we were on the Eastern Shore of Virginia a couple of weeks ago, we visited the town of Chinoteague on Chincoteague Island. There we stopped by a shop to see the many decoys, about 2000!. Years ago they were made for hunters, of course, but now they are also popular decorating accessories and viewed as an important part of American Folk Art. Some are very primitive looking but many are finely carved and painted. Apparently the largest price paid for duck decoys was 1.3 million dollars for two by a Massachussetts artist in a private sale a few years ago! The first known collector was a man named Joel Barber who began his collection in 1918. Anyway, I've never seen so many ducks! And other birds.