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function passparaSC(){return \'&baseurl=\'+ escape((function(){var d = return d })()) + RARE ~SUPERB 100% ORG PAINT c1938 FRANK STREY ~OSHKOSH WISCONSIN Wood Duck Decoy a.imagelink {color:#efe2ae;} a:hover.imagelink {color:#efe2ae;} a:visited.imagelink {color:#000000;} a.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #efe2ae; } a:visited.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #000000; } G. STREY (1890-1966) Oshkosh, Wisconsin

• Frank Strey worked for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad and became the \"Best Known\" of the Oshkosh carvers!!

(below);  This MAMMOTH \"FRANK STREY\" Canvasback -with- A Hollow \"GUS MOAK\" Caanada Goose!!

• SHOULD GIVE you a Good Idea HOW LARGE this \"STREY STREY\" Canvasback up for sale REALLY IS!!!

RARE \"SUPERB CONDITION\" Mammoth 6-lbs.; SUPERB \"HIGH HEAD\"; \"Winnebago Style\"; c1938 FRANK G. STREY (1890-1966); Solid Cedar; \"AMERICAN COOT\" Wood Duck Decoy; OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN ( Hunted Lake Winnebago and Later Lake Butte des Morts)

• EXCEPTIONAL CRAZED PATINA to the SUPERB 100% ORIGINAL PAINT!!
• GORGEOUS & CLEAN FEATHER GROUP SEPARATION & VERMICULATION!!!

EXCEPTIONAL FRANK STREY \"HIGH HEAD\" FORM: This Awesome Long-Necked Canvasback is What Could Be Considered His Signature Style and Form!!

• EXCELLENT AND VERY TYPICAL WINNEBAGO STYLED DECOY FORM that He Helped PIONEER with PEERS and the MANY AWESOME CARVERS that FOLLOWED!!

EXCELLENT \"EXCEPTIONAL\" CONDITION; This Decoy is In Excellent 100% Original Condition and the Head & Neck are as Tight as the Day This Decoy was Made!! Great 100% Original Paint with Almost No Rubbing at any Edges nor High Points; Just Awesome Condition!! Other than an Original, White-Lead, Filled Check on the Back; This Decoy it is Like New!!

AWESOME ORIGINAL RED GLASS EYES CARVED IN & LOCATED PERFECTLY!!!

• Superbly Carved and Nicely Contoured Body with Flatten-Formed Neck Shelf!!
• HEAD is ATTACHED with A 1/2\" WOODEN DOWEL WELL UP INTO THE HEAD AND NECK and INTO the BODY!!

IF YOU LIKE VINTAGE GUNNING DECOYS from ONE OF THE MORE KNOWN CARVERS, THIS is A GREAT OLD GUNNING BIRD to ADD to YOUR COLLECTION!!

• GREAT DRY, ORIGINAL PAINT WITH FEATHER DETAIL FROM the CAREFUL & DELIBERATE BRUSH STROKES, .....THUS GIVING THE DECOY A FEATHERED APPEARANCE!!!!

Awesome Form with AWESOME \"WISCONSIN-FOLKY\" HEAD AND NECK!!!

Outstanding, Extremely Thick Bill!!

• AWESOME WISCONSIN HIGH HEAD FORM!!
• CLASSIC WISCONSIN CANVASBACK IN EVERY WAY!!

FRANK STREY\'S DECOYS HELPED DEFINE the WISCONSIN CARVING STYLE and PAINT FORM FOR a GREAT MANY WONDERFUL CARVERS in the WINNEBAGO LAKES REGION!!

ALL SHIPPING INCLUDES INSURANCE!!

IF YOU ARE A FAN OF CANVASBACK DECOYS FROM THE MIDWEST YOU WON\'T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THIS EXCELLENT DECOY!!

This Vintage, 75+ year old, wonderfully Carved and Painted Solid Cedar Canvasback duck decoy was carved and painted by Frank Strey (1890-1966) of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Frank G. Strey (1890-1966) was born in Rosendale Wisconsin, but later moved to Oshkosh at any early age. Strey\'s carving career started around 1910 and ended more than half a century later after many wonderful different decoy styles and paint patterns. No doubt it began when Strey made his first birds to use for hunting with other family members on Lake Winnebago off a point just north of Oshkosh.
Strey’s first decoys are high-backed and folksy-looking. Being a perfectionist, he constantly sought to improve on his work and kept making himself a new and better rig, selling off the older ones he no longer used. Word spread quickly that Frank Strey’s over-sized and often mammoth blocks were excellent and effective hunting decoys and soon he was filling orders for decoys from hunters from all over the area. Over the course of his career he carved several thousand birds.Strey worked for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, first as a gate tender on Irving Street in Oshkosh and later as the bridge tender for the railroad bridge over the Fox River. He retired from the railroad in 1956. In nice weather, his carving was done in a small shop in the backyard of his house and winter he would work in the basement of the home he and his wife Sophie lived in on Powers Street.All of his decoys were solid and over-sized which resulted in heavy decoys like this 6-lb. \"monster\" Drake Canvasback up for sale. The majority of the decoys he made are of diving duck species and coot, both the grey and black variety of mud hens. Frank’s output was mostly canvasbacks, redheads, bluebills, coots and Canada geese, but he made a few mallards and blacks. The early decoys were more stylized with longer necks and a more pronounced breast. The cheek carving on the head was deeper than in later years. His later decoys were rasped all over to give a rough texture so they wouldn’t shine, much like this Canvasback which has some very nice rasp work but not particularly \"heavy\" anywhere. His paint patterns became more simple and bold.He also made some oversize mallards, black ducks and blue-wing teal, but it is believed that he never made more than a dozen or so of each of the puddle duck species. Many of his birds have slightly turned heads and he made some Canada goose decoys, a few of which were hollow and few of his gigantic goose decoys were over 30\" long. The mallard and black ducks are 22\" long and the teal are 15\" long, so it is obvious that Strey thought that bigger was better. This 6-lb. mammoth Canvasback up for sale 19-1/2\" long is quite a handful. I can only imagine how much a rig of these big, solid-bodied birds would have weighed down a smaller or medium sized wooden duck boat; it must have been quite the job hauling a rig of these wet birds in at the end of a long gunning day on Lake Winnebago or one of the other lakes in the \"Canvasback Capitol of the World\" back in the day.In all species, Strey made a ratio of two drakes to each hen and his decoys were made from old cedar utility poles. The heads were pine. The heads on some of the oversize “Bull” canvasbacks are almost 3 inches thick and that must be quite a sight considering the head on this Canvasback looks huge and is is only2-5/8\" wide. Both Frank Strey\'s bodies and heads were rough sawn with a large band saw and to stabilize the bodies for further work, he screwed a “T”-shaped piece of metal to the bottom of the decoy and clamped that in a vise. Then the body was finished with first a draw shave, then a rasp. His later decoys are rasped to a feathery effect by leaving them somewhat rough.Frank Strey carved his heads with a jackknife and he invented various tools with which to burn in the eyes, nostrils, mandible line and also the “V” on the bill. By the way, the bill on this canvasback up for sale is just extraordinary as you can see from the many close-up pictures. The glass eyes were recessed into the head, no doubt, to protect against breakage and the recessed eyes on this canvasback are nothing short of superb and they were carved in and located with nothing short of perfection. Very few of Frank Strey’s decoys are ever seen with a missing eye, so this little innovation of his was successful and a testament to his craftsmanship. Frank Strey\'s heads were attached with a one-half-inch dowel and four small finishing nails, toe-nailed through the neck and the head on this Awesome canvasback is firmly attached to the body as if he made it yesterday. Actually, he would have had to attach the heads to decoys in this very utilitarian nature as otherwise the necks would have surely cracked from picking them up by the neck at the end of the day with a giant 5-lb. body stressing this susceptible construction area of a decoy.The painting style on Frank Strey\'s diving ducks changed as much over the years as his body styles that he employed. He went from having the entire wing painted on the side of a decoy, to the illusion of a wing, and then back to a long, narrow wing, always in an attempt to make his decoys more and more realistic. To achieve the vermiculation effect on the back of the decoy, he used a piece of corduroy, dabbing the paint on to give a lifelike, feathered effect and the wing and back vermiculation on this decoy up for sale is very extraordinary to say the least
.Some of his personal rig decoys had “Strey” branded on the underside and Strey’s early decoys had a bar or lead strip for a ballast weight. In later years he used a round lead weight attached with a nail, although the one on this decoy was removed long ago when it entered into the collection it retired in to. These round weights were made by Strey in many different sizes and the size used was undoubtedly customized to the size of the decoy so that it was just enough to right the decoy if it flipped in rough water and have it ride and swim properly in the water.Strey was an excellent wing shot and hunted the point on Lake Winnebago until about 1950. Then he started hunting the cane beds on Lake Butte des Morts and along the north shore, until he quit hunting for good in the early 1960’s. A true craftsman, Strey produced other hunting paraphernalia to make the sport he loved easier and more enjoyable. This included shell boxes, portable blinds, numerous boats and hunting skiffs. Around 1950 a row boat sold for $125. At this same time his oversize canvasback decoys, complete with string and anchor weights, were selling for $36 a dozen.Because of their ruggedness, Frank Strey\'s decoys served hunters for many years, but it obviously was one heck of a chore to carry a sack full of Canada geese very far as you can imagine. Many collectors feel his coots represented his best work and are among Wisconsin\'s more desirable swamp chicken decoys.Having served the purposes for which they were made for a half a century, the decoys of Frank Strey today are prominently featured on the shelves of very discriminating decoy collectors throughout the United States. A good-sized collection could be built with just his decoys because of all the variations he made and just the sheer girth and mass of his large and imposing decoys. Truly, Frank Strey is ranked with the great decoy carvers of all time and rightfully so.

Exactly Like this Gorgeous Drake Canvasback decoy up for sale, the majority of the decoys that Mr. Strey produced over his lifetime had their heads attached to the bodies with the large dowel and toe-nailed finishing nails exactly like this beautiful decoy up for sale. To finish off this procedure, to add strength and prevent swiveling he toe-nailed in the small finishing nails into the base of the neck and into the body itself.

It is clear that from conception to the finished product, Frank Strey\'s decoys were made for the often harsh and treacherous conditions of open water gunning for divers and the rough treatment afforded these tools of the trade. Even though his beautiful high-headed decoys developed an occasional neck check or or stress crack in the area, Strey\'s decoys were carved to be nothing more than utilitarian and as close to perfection as he could. The big and heavy cedar bodies, thick tails and bills are all features that exemplify a decoy as being one of his. A testament to his outstanding craftsmanship is the number of decoys that exist today in perfect working conditional and mint structurally. This decoy up for sale is no exception, and although it was originally outfitted with a lead ballast weight and line tie on the bottom, I doubt whether this decoy ever saw much time being gunned over as the condition is superb overall with awesome and gorgeous paint and almost no wear whatsoever to any of the high points. There is very scattered and minor paint flaking but this appears to be mostly from age rather than use. The head and neck on this decoy is as tight and defect-free as if it was made yesterday.

Winnebago is the largest lake in this area, that also includes surrounding Lakes Butte des Morts, Poygan, Green, Partridge, Puckaway, Rush and Winneconne. This area, which is often referred to as being part of the Winnebago district, was once referred to as being the \"Canvasback Capital of the World\" from the mid 1800\'s to the turn of the century. Gigantic flocks of migrating canvasbacks, redheads and bluebills worked these lakes feverishly in search of the once plentiful wild celery that was teeming here. In addition to the huge flocks of divers and coots, the spectacle of the huge flocks and the outstanding waterfowl hunting was enough of a draw that hunters came from across the country and royalty came from overseas to enjoy the excellent waterfowl gunning. The ample food and the relative calm waters in compared to the rougher Great Lakes was a perfect place for migrating ducks and geese to rest up and feed.

Frank Strey\'s decoys were well carved and beautifully crafted in the Winnebago style with sturdy construction, distinctively carved heads and quite often with painted wings and/or speculums.

Frank Strey\'s decoys were actually quite pioneering for the area from a form and style standpoint and they were certainly as frequently seen as any other decoys that came from any other hand, including factory birds. Just the sheer exposure to his birds in the regions would have had a profound effect on other carvers and his decoys were patterned after and seen as what a great gunning decoy should look like. The round lead ballast weight and line tie were removed from this Awesome Canvasback a long time ago, but the very hard-to-see shadows on the bottom indicate where they were located and that this decoy was sparsely if ever gunned over. The absence of any shot also would seem to support this as it would be hard to not hit this giant decoy with a cripple swimming in the blocks. This happens to be a very nice Frank Strey gunning decoy that looks to have gone straight from his work bench and into a collection. Although it possibly was gunned over a couple times, there is no great evidence to suggest it ever saw water.

This decoy up for sale is posed like the typical decoy for Strey and for the region, as it is in an alert pose, and the head and bill are only slightly turned!! This Decoy Up For sale also has the typical Strey \"smoothly carved\" transition from the neck into the body that gives it a perfectly flowing form for its profile, which is what a wild duck sees anyway.

While Frank Strey\'s decoys have a typical Folky Wisconsin appeal to them, he appears to have been a stickler for detail, as his birds are all surprisingly realistic from both carving and painting standpoints and the quality is evident as this canvasback decoy up for sale is in perfect condition with a nice tight, like-new head and neck. Another very nice aspect about this canvasback up for sale is the well-arced carving where he smoothly transitioned the form as it flows flawlessly from the neck and then into the neck shelf and body. Also, this Canvasback has a \"wonderfully\" carved bill with perfect bill/head separation, nostrils, mandibles and an exceptionally carved and very deep chasm on the top of the bill where it meets the head in a gorgeously carved \"V\".




JUST LOOK AT THE AWESOME BILL!!

This decoy is as solid as the day it was made and the entire decoy is in excellent, superb condition. Excellent craftsmanship as this bird was made with precision cuts, the head is firmly attached and the entire bird was carved perfectly symmetrically. The lead ballast weight and line tie were removed when this decoy was entered into the awesome collection from which it came, but I am sure that it was well-weighted and a very well balanced decoy that was made to swim nice and flat and stand up to a decent water chop; even white-caps when they it required to. A sight of Frank Strey\'s awesome diving decoys and coots must have been a neat sight to see 40 or 50 of them riding in unison over a nice chop on lake Winnebago or Lake Butte des Morts. This decoy also has great form and it has Strey\'s trademarked \"High Head\", perfectly formed and styled neck, recessed eyes and big open-water body. The erect neck and head gives you the impression that this is a big adult Drake Canvasback that is looking for trouble on the waters of Lake Winnebago, Lake Butte des Morts or Lake Poygan before it settles in to feed or rest. This classy and extremely impressive and imposingly Canvasback decoy measures 19-1/2\" long x 8\" wide x a stately 11-1/2\" tall and weighs a very hefty and super-solid 6-lbs. This decoy is in outstanding original condition and based on the light to non-existent edge wear, I would think that this decoy may have been hunted over a handful of times and then it went straight into a collection. This is truly one of his very true-to-form decoys and it would make a nice addition to any decoy collection. The antique red glass eyes are perfectly intact and mounted and located and they are of a really deep and bright red color. A truly legendary and pioneered decoy to add to your collection of fine gunning decoys by one of the more famous decoy makers in Wisconsin\'s long history of decoy carvers. If you have any questions or would like an additional photo feel free to email me. Thanks for looking.

Below You Will Find Pictures of Other Great Decoys made by Mr. Strey!!