THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409230190
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DARA MCLEOD, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
If you're out shopping for an Outer Banks treasure - something with a true sense of place to display on the mantle - consider browsing through The Bird Store.
Owners Philip and Susan Harvey have more than 300 wooden decoys on display, including ones by third-, fourth- and even fifth-generation carvers.
But the couple is best known for their selection of antique decoys - one of the largest in the area.
Most of these decoys were crafted within 90 miles of the Outer Banks, and they're representative of the area's unique style - purely functional in form and fashion.
The decoys are solid and heavier than those from other areas, and most have a boat-like, V-shaped bottom that allows them to ride out rough wind and water conditions, Philip Harvey says.
Local carvers also made their decoys larger than usual, which allowed the wooden fowl to be viewed from a distance across the Banks' wide, shallow sounds.
Local decoys feature less detailed paint patterns and have no eyes.
``All they needed here was a silhouette on the water,'' Harvey says. As he wrote in a recent article on antique decoys, ``Eyes on decoys were a waste of time and money, since once a passing duck got close enough to see eyes, it was too late.''
The Bird Store features antique decoys by artists including Ned Burgess of Waterlilly, Mannie Haywood of Kill Devil Hills, George O'Neal of Ocracoke, and Joe Hayman and Bob Morse of Church's Island.
But these folks weren't in it for fame and fortune. Some carved decoys to use. Others sold their work, usually for a dollar or less, to sportsmen and members of the hunt clubs which sprang up along the Outer Banks in the early 1900s.
Most of these decoys were either discarded or eventually deteriorated. But some survived after being stored in sheds and barns under piles of junk for years - until collectors and dealers like Harvey came searching for them.
``I often say these old-timers would roll over in their graves if they saw me wrapping one of their decoys in tissue for someone to take it home and put it on the mantle,'' he says with a laugh.
``I think about that quite often when I'm wrapping them so carefully, how they've been thrown in and out of boats. It's a real twist.''
By the 1950s and 1960s, with the advent of factory-made plastic decoys, the need for wooden decoys had waned.
But soon afterward, beginning in the 1960s and increasing by the 1970s, a new interest had developed in wooden decoys as decorative works of art.
Although decorative decoys had existed as far back as the 1930s and 1940s, these hand-carved, hand-painted birds were not made for the mantle. Most probably weren't even sought after until about 25 years ago. About that time, decoy-collecting clubs, such as the Carolina Decoy Collectors and Carvers Association, were established.
Modern decoys by carvers like George and Craig Fulcher, Curtis and Wayne Waterfield, John and Patty Waterfield, Roy Willis, and Roy White, range from simple, antique-looking replicas to beautiful life-like ones featuring nature's color schemes, finely detailed feathers and vivid eyes.
``Some people want the most detailed, the most accurate and life-like looking bird. And some don't,'' Harvey says. ``Sometimes, with art, the less realistic it is - the more artistic it is.''
But The Bird Store isn't just a place for advanced collectors. Harvey says he has birds that start for as little as $10, and he has quite a selection for under $100.
``My advice is always buy what's pleasing to your eye,'' he says. ``I think the best return on the investment is the pleasure you get out of looking at it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Phil Harvey, owner of The Bird Store, holds a Canada goose decoy,
left, and a canvas goose decoy.
THE BIRD STORE
WHERE: Milepost 9 on U.S. 158 in Kill Devil Hills
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Open until Thanksgiving.
PHONE: 919-480-2951
FEATURES: The Bird Store has over 300 old and new decoys and a
wide selection of waterfowl art. Its owners also are expanding their
collection of antique fishing gear.
by CNB