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The carvings pictured are full-sized decorative decoys and are carved out of basswood and tupolo wood. Some of these hand carved decoys are hollow and are balanced to float in competition.
There are decoys pictured that have their wings carved separately and then added to the body. Some decoys have the tail feathers inserted.
The full-bodied decoys with feet are hollow and balanced to float. I then carve the feet and legs from wood or make them from metal and epoxy, then carve them and add them to the body.
The #2 Woodduck hen with feet has fifty-nine carved and inserted feathers.
The pictures that include ribbons represent award winning decoys that won special recognition at the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition. Carvers from all over the world come to this annual competition in Ocean City, Maryland, to show off their woodshop skills and techniques.
The award winning ducks pictured here have accurate and precise dimensions and colors, and each took a minimum of 250 hours to create. In order to create lifelike and original decoys, Robert Wright works with a taxidermist, allowing him to be extremely detail oriented when creating his carvings.
All of his waterfowl decoys began as one block of wood and are 100% original.
Waterfowl Decoys and Other Hand Carved Decoys
Carvings by Robert Wright