A. Elmer Crowell: Sculptor, Painter, Decoy Maker

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Miniature Canada Goose Bird Carving, 1894
Wood and paint, 2 3/8 x 1 11/16 x 3 7/8 in.
Gift of Mrs. Stuart Crocker, in memory of her husband, 1966-232.11

Inscribed on its base with the date 1894, this miniature Canada goose is the earliest documented example of A. Elmer Crowell’s small decorative carvings. Some experts debate the influence fellow Massachusetts decoy carver Joseph Whiting Lincoln’s (1859-1938) miniature bird carvings might have had on Crowell and his early attempts. This goose differs from later works in its more detailed head carving, including an incised mandible. Its less refined, unblended plumage is more reminiscent of the abstracted patterns found on Lincoln’s miniatures.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Preening Black Duck Decoy, 1920
Wood, paint, and glass, 7 5/8 x 6 1/2 x 15 3/8 in.
2015-0.3

In some instances, it can be extremely difficult to distinguish between Crowell’s high-quality working decoys and his “ornamental” birds because of their shared lifelike poses, sophisticated paint application, and carved anatomical details. Such is the case with this extraordinary preening black duck decoy with its backward craning head and neck, raised primary feathers and subtle naturalistic plumage. One way to tell if a Crowell decoy was meant to be hunted over or rest atop a fireplace mantle is to look for evidence of the leather loop the carver attached to the front bottoms his working decoys which functioned as the leads for anchors. Lacking evidence of a hole to attach the leather strap, the unblemished bottom of this black duck indicates that Crowell intended it to serve a decorative function. From a practical standpoint, the attached neck and proud feather tips could be easily damaged or destroyed by errant gunshot fired in the field.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Crowell's Bird Models, ca. 1912
Wood and paint, 19 1/4 x 14 3/4 x 3/4 in.
Gift of Wallace H. Furman, 1966-233

Unlike the finely detailed feathering characteristic of Crowell’s decorative bird carvings, the painted plumage of the Canada goose located at the bottom of this sign board was executed in flat broad planes to make it legible from a distance. Weathered by time and exposure, this sign, a rare example of Crowell’s sign painting skills, originally hung outside the entrance to the workshop he called his “songless aviary.” Located next to his home on Church Street in East Harwich, Massachusetts, Crowell’s studio space occupied half of a converted old barn that one reporter described as housing “both the car and career” of Cape Cod’s most accomplished bird carver.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Elmer Crowell's Duck and Goose Blind, 1908
Oil on canvas, 9 1/4 x 24 1/8 in.
Gift of Mrs. Stuart Crocker, in memory of her husband, 1966-232.1

Based on the beauty of the expertly blended plumage of his decoys and decorative bird carvings, it is hard to believe that Crowell had minimal painting instruction. According to his friend and neighbor Dorthea Setzer, “In his middle teens he (Crowell) had prevailed upon his parents to allow him to take twenty-four painting lessons from Miss Emily King of Middleboro, who spent her summers at Harwich Port and taught at $1.00 per lesson; this was the only professional instruction he ever had.” Crowell’s lack of formal artistic training is apparent in his folksy autobiographical genre and landscape paintings, in which he struggles with the concepts of perspective, scale, and human anatomy. Regardless of the quality of his technique, Crowell provides charming glimpses into his life’s story. In the scene above, Crowell and an unidentified hunter shoot Canada geese from behind the blind he built on Pleasant Lake near East Harwich on Cape Cod. At age 14, Crowell constructed the blind, a thirty-yard- long fence covered in branches, and according to the inscription on the back of the painting he, “shot from it for 32 years in season for market.”

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Flying Green-winged Teal Duck Decoy, date unknown
Wood and paint, 16 ½ x 20 x 4 in.
Gift of Mrs. Stuart Crocker, in memory of her husband, 1966-232.29

This flying green-winged teal hen and mallard drake (below) are exquisite examples of Crowell’s unparalleled sculpting and painting skills. Based on a lifetime of field observations, Crowell’s intimate understanding of waterfowl anatomy and body language is evident in way he sculpted these ducks turning in midair. He deftly captures the sensation of flight by subtly tilting the birds’ heads, exposing their one dangling webbed foot, and fanning out their tail feathers. The execution of both ducks’ plumage beautifully demonstrates Crowell’s characteristic layered wet-on-wet paint application technique, in which he layered different colors of liquid paint on top of each, blending out the edges to achieve a feathered looked.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Preening Yellowlegs, ca. 1939
Graphite on paper, 6 1/4 x 6 7/8 in.
2020-0.27

Crowell used paper patterns such at these life-size greater yellowlegs to ensure consistency in the forms of his bird carvings and their painted feather decoration. He cut the templates out of a variety of sturdy paper stock, reused cardboard, and recycled calendars, which sometimes help date them. Crowell based his patterns on his observations in nature as well as printed images he found in and illustrations in ornithological books. The artist often embellished the cutouts with intricately plumage patterns drawn in pencil, which he used as guidelines for painting.

Shelburne Museum’s collection of more than 180 bird patterns made by Crowell range in scale from miniature songbirds to life-size waterfowl. The broad assortment of species in the collection include a ruby-throated hummingbird and a several varieties of exotic parrots.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Greater Yellowlegs Bird Carving & Greater Yellowlegs Preening Bird Carving, ca. 1939
Wood, paint, glass, and metal, 11 x 5 1/2 x 11 3/4 in & 14 x 6 x 8 in.
Gift of Mrs. Stuart Crocker, in memory of her husband, 1966-232.27 & .28

In her book The Art of the Decoy: American Bird Carvings (1962), Adele Earnest proclaimed that “Crowell’s reputation rests firmly on his shorebirds. They are without peer, as distinguished as the famous Audubon prints—as natural and as lovingly interpreted. Crowell was a devoted ornithologist, and the poses and painting of a number of his decoys reflect the Audubon influence.” Although Earnest was referring to Crowell’s working shorebird decoys, the same can be said of his decorative versions of these stilt-legged beachcombers.

Mounted on carved wood bases meant to resemble rounded beach rocks, this pair of life-sized greater yellowlegs, is a testament to Crowell’s superior sculpting and painting skills. Perched on thin legs made of painted umbrella stays, these lifelike birds are portrayed behaving naturally. The yellowlegs on the right is sculpted in a running position while the other raises its wing to preen one of its primary feathers. Each bird is covered meticulously in his characteristic wet-on-wet painting technique, the artist captures every single feather.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Kingfisher Bird Carving, ca. 1939
Wood, paint, metal, and glass, 7 1/8 x 4 ½ x 7 1/2 in.
Gift of Mrs. Stuart Crocker, in memory of her husband, 1966-232.20

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Great Blue Heron Bird Carving, 1912
Wood, paint, and glass, 37 1/2 x 9 5/8 x 35 1/2 in.
Gift of Mrs. Esther U. Johnson, 1977-42

Standing more than three-feet tall on wrought iron legs, this life-size immature great blue heron is the largest bird species A. Elmer Crowell ever carved. Only one other, nearly identical young heron is known to exist in the collection of the Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts. According to the inscription written underneath the base of this heron, it was “Given to Mrs. C. Ashley Hardy for her garden in Wayland Mass. – 1912.” Charles Ashley Hardy (1874-1929) was a close friend and important patron who hired Crowell to run the Three Bears’ hunting camp on Pico Point on Pleasant Lake, in Harwich, Massachusetts. According to family lore, Hardy later helped Crowell set up his carving studio in 1912 by providing the financial backing to purchase the necessary tools.

A. Elmer Crowell (East Harwich, Massachusetts, 1862-1952)
Miniature Quail Bird Carving, ca. 1943
Wood, paint, and glass, 7 7/8 x 4 3/8 x 6 5/8 in.
Gift of Mrs. Stuart Crocker, in memory of her husband, 1966-232.25

The inscription written in blue ink on the underside of this bobwhite quail, indicates that it was “The last bird” to be made by Crowell and dated 1951. If true, this means the decoy was most likely carved and painted by Crowell sometime before he retired in 1943 because rheumatism made holding the tools of his trade a painful challenge. While the overall form and quality of the bird’s carving is consistent with other extant examples made earlier in his career; the less refined blending of the painted plumage suggests that it was applied by a less steady and capable hand, lending credence to the claim it was one of, if not the last birds made by Crowell. The date, 1951, may represent the year in which Stuart M. Crocker acquired the quail.