Very nice gunning decoy...The different regional styles and materials used give these old blocks unique character. The hollow Illinois River birds by Perdew and Graves, the beautiful blocks carved and painted by Lem and Steve Ward of the Eastern Shore and the unique style of the Louisiana birds carved by Cajuns from tupelo buttswells are artifacts from a bygone era and are true works of American folk art. Even the old factory decoys by Dodge and Mason are valuable hand painted works of art. Copley's summer auction this July sold a trio of hollow black bellied plover shorebird gunning decoys by A. Elmer Crowell for 1.14 million dollars. Gil
