Images(7)

Decoy: Mallard Hen (Preener)

Dateca. 1940

Artist Mitchel Lafrance (1882-1979)

Artist Charles Numa Joefrau 1913 - 1983

Artist George Frederick Jr. 1907 - 1977

OriginAmerica, Louisiana

MediumOil on Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides)(n. 1) with glass eye

DimensionsOverall: 7 x 13 1/2 x 6in. (17.8 x 34.3 x 15.2cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1963.702.2

DescriptionA polychromed, hollow woodcarving of a duck, apparently afloat, its neck turned so that the bird looks back over its tail.Label TextMitchel Lafrance was a professional waterfowl guide who began making decoys in Louisiana in St. Sophie, south of New Orleans. Later, he moved to New Orleans. Most of the decoys associated with his name actually were created cooperatively, with Lafrance as "hatchet man" doing the shaping, carpenter Charles Numa Joefrau of New Orleans tackling the more refined carving, and George Frederick, Jr., of Davant the painting. In the 1930s, the trio's decoys sold for about $12 a dozen at the Lanasa Hardware (or Sporting Goods) Store in New Orleans.

Together, the three men fabricated hundreds of counterfeit scaup, teal, mallards, pintails, and canvasbacks, some of them "preeners," like this mallard hen, whose turned-back head conveys her focus on grooming. Still another favorite pose incorporated the forward-reaching head indicative of a rapidly forward-moving bird.Inscription(s)In graphite in upper and lower case block letters on the bottom is:
"M. La France/2721 St Anthony".

It has not yet been determined whether the above was written by Lafrance.ProvenanceOwnership prior to AARFAM's source (dealer Mary Allis of Fairfield, Conn.) is undocumented.