Walnut Stained decoys

Over the years I have seen and handled shorebird decoys that are usually described as "original paint worn to wood" These birds have a distinct over all worn warm brown appearance. For years I have wondered if the birds were really worn to paint or had their distinctive colored been achieved in some other way.

As a youngster one of my fall jobs was to harvest American Black Walnuts, shuck the hulls after they turned black. And eventually pick out the tiny amount of sweet nut meat found inside for my Mother to use in special baking projects,especially brownies. The hulls were thrown in a bucket for Grandpa Reason who used them to make a brown stain. Recently it occurred to me that may have been the way some of the old snipe stool had acquired there unique brown coloration. Generaly these decoys are discribed as "OLD PAINT WORN TO WOOD" But some had to me the look more of a stained finish than a worn paint finish.  So to test my idea I carved some snipe stool and soaked walnut hulls in water and applied it to the carvings.

What I found was the birds took on the appearance of the surface found on many of the old brown snipe stool I had seen over the years. And it would seem walnut hull stain is a good explanation for the brown color found on these old birds. Black Walnut stained decoys with the look found on many old shorebird decoys from 1840's and later are now offered by jamie Reason. A step back in tradition is a step forward in understanding. J.R.