Lot #91: 1986 Bird Miniature Bird Carving by Smiths Falls World Champion Carver John Garton

In the spring of 1967 Bob Kerr, Clarence Miller, and Garton were visiting Davey Nichol in his workshop. Nichol showed the men a letter he had received from the Orvis Company of Manchester, Vermont. The company wanted to purchase miniature decoys for their store. Garton sent a set of samples for consideration, launching a job that lasted twenty years. It was to be a great learning experience, with improvements in shape and painting which ultimately increased the values of his carvings. During Garton’s miniature era, he continued to carve contest decoys. In 1970, he entered the new Ward Foundation Wildfowl Art Show to test the waters. The Salisbury contest called for a matched pair of any species, plain carved, no raised wings, no texture – just a decoy. Drawing on a childhood memory, he decided to make a pair of teal for each class: world, open, and decorative, to compare paint jobs and make changes. Garton recalls, “Finally came the hour of decision and all eyes were focused on the judging tank. I can recall Cigar Daisey standing by the bleachers, smiling as the judges took my teal out of the tank. I was surprised when they said “Best in World,” and my mind went back to a day in Manitoba in May 1930 when I was with my father, tying up the team of horses in front of the General Store in Poplar Point. At that exact moment, a blue-winged drake teal hit the telegraph line directly overhead and fell fluttering between the horses. My father reached down, picked it up, and gave it to me still quivering in all its beauty. In retrospect that incident probably helped to shape the rest of my life and allowed to me develop friendships with the wonderful people I met and the numerous roads traveled in the search of a perfect decoy.” Pickup category timeslot {C}