- Very nicely carved and painted
preening Red Breasted Merganser by noted decoy maker Lou Schifferl
of Neenah, Wisconsin. Schifferl was born in 1931 and died in
2021. He was a hunter and decoy collector before starting to
carve his own decoys. He had worked as an artist and made an
easy transition into painting the decoys he carved. Soon he had
a booming business going selling his finished decoys in the U.S.
and abroad. This decoy is would have been used as a decorative
one rather than a working decoy and is signed by him on the bottom
of the block. It is in very good original condition, with only
a few very minor touch ups of paint on the head where rubs had
occurred. Mergansers eat fish and therefore are not the most
desirable dining fare. Nonetheless their decoys are often employed
as "confidence decoys" to assure other ducks that it
is safe to land. A drake Red Breasted Merganser is a very beautiful
bird and Schifferl did it justice in this carving. (CQ-6)
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