Description: Life size; pair mounted on driftwood base, male stands erect on right, female squats on left, head toward ground; both have glass eyes, wire feet and legs, painted detail. Unsigned, unmarked.
Description: Approx. 1/4 life size; Adult mounted on driftwood base, standing upright, body horizontal, neck erect, head turned slightly left; glass eyes, metal feet, carved and painted detail. Unsigned. Paint cracked at top of right leg.
Description: Wendell suggests carvings he had on hand that could be photographed to illustrate his book. Birds he suggests are: bob white quail, scaled quail, flock of 7 Canada geese, pair of Wilson snipe, pair of grouse, single woodcock, several miniature birds of all types, great blue heron with trout in mouth, group of three pintails, life size eagle, pair of life size wood duck, spotted sandpiper on mussel shell, life size pileated woodpecker, pair of eagles with two babies in nest. [show more]
Description: Photocopy from the original by Byron Cheever listing questions he had regarding publishing Gilley's book. Gilley's answers as dictated to Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. are in pencil after each question.
Description: Original letter from Byron Cheever, Publisher of North American Decoys, expressing Cheever's willingness to publish Wendell Gilley's book and asking questions about publication and printing details.
Description: Life size; adult male on driftwood base, standing, tail slightly raised, feathers spread, head turned slightly left, carved, burned and painted detail; glass eyes, metal feet. Marked "Ruffed Grouse by W.H. Gilley, 1973, property of Addie Gilley, Southwest Harbor, Maine" on underside of base.
Description: 1/5 life size; on natural wooden base, hunched over as if watching for prey, toes positioned, 3 point back instead of natural 2:2; glass eyes, painted and carved detail. Signed: "Gilley '76" on right of base. Underside marked "Barn Owl by W.H. Gilley, Addie Gilley 1976."
Description: Marked "Model made by Donal C. O'Brien, Jr. Carved on a carving machine. Assembled + painted by Wendell Gilley." Has round label "1M" on bottom.
Description: Hen standing on slice of driftwood, right foot forward, facing downward, crest erect, glass eyes, painted, carved, burned detail, metal legs and feet, signed on base, "Gilley '73," underside of base stamped "Wendell Gilley, Southwest Harbor, Maine, 04679, 'Scaled or Blue Quail (Hen)'."
Description: Letter describing O'Brien's sailing trip around Buckle Island, Swans Island and others and the eiders and ospreys he saw. This letter also mentions Gilley's idea for a museum.
Description: This letter acknowledges receipt of a letter and chisel from Gilley, and discusses various carvings including a spotted sandpiper on a mussel shell and two pairs of quail
Description: O'Brien acknowledges receipt of a spotted sandpiper carving from Gilley and discusses a handle Gillely designed for an X-Acto blade as well as decoy designs.
Description: This letter discusses correspondence between Wendell Gilley and Byron Cheever, author and magazine publisher, about Gilley's book. The author of the letter makes suggestions about paper and cover art and discusses copyright.
Description: Note from O'Brien included with a copy of a letter from Byron Cheever. O'Brien mentions having been asked by Peggy Rockefeller if Gilley would sell her a flock of geese.
Description: This letter praises Wendell Gilley's inventiveness, his carving and his book . O'Brien refers to a vise for holding decoys and carvings for painting that Wendell includes in the book.
Description: Letter acknowledges receipt of a copy of O'Brien's letter to Wendell H. Gilley. Cheever promises to work on the material for Gilley's book but says hes is in the process of getting the summer issue of North American Decoys ready for the printer.
Description: Cheever writes that he has received the materials for Gilley's book and that he read the new chapter on decoys and thought it was well done. He also talks about meeting carver Harold Haertel in Chicago at a meeting of decoy collectors.
Description: Life size; mounted on driftwood base, standing erect, right leg raised, head turned left; glass eyes, metal legs, carved, burned and painted detail. Marked, dated and signed "for Addie Gilley, Upland Plover by W.H. Giley, 1974" on underside of base. Also called upland sandpiper Companion piece no. 81.1.97
Description: Life size; drake mounted on burned driftwood base, head turned left, beak down; glass eyes, metal feet, carved, burned and painted detail. Signed "Gilley '74" on left side of base, marked "Blue-winged Teal by W.G. Gilley, 1974, made for Addie Gilley" on underside of base.