- Joel Barber
Joel Barber was an early 20th century architect from
New York who is best known as an early collector and promoter of duck decoys asfolk art .Barber began collecting the carved wooden decoys in 1918 after finding one by accident near his
Long Island boathouse. In addition to collecting and exhibiting the works, Barber organized decoy carving competitions and produced works of his own. But his most enduring contribution was his 1934 book "Wild Fowl Decoys " which is considered the seminal work on the subject, and remained the definite collector's guide for many decades after its publication. He also wrote a lesser known work of short stories and poetry, "Long Shore ", based on his experiences as an outdoorsman inNew England .Following his death in 1952, Barber's collection of about 400 decoys was given to the
Shelburne Museum inVermont .Bibliography
* "
Wild Fowl Decoys " (1934)
* "Long Shore " (1939)See also
*"
Wild Fowl Decoys "
*Folk art
*Duck hunting External links
* [http://www.roberteshaw.com/Totems%20of%20the%20Hunt.html Tools of Deception: A History of American Bird Decoys] - Robert Shaw
* [http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/collections/detail.php?id=5 Shelburne Museum] - hosts to a large collection of wildfowl decoys including Barber's collection
* [http://isbndb.com/d/person/joel_barber/books.html Bibliography of Joel Barber] - from ISBNdb.com
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