Winning decoys

By Mary Alice Garrett

This story originally appeared November 13, 1986 in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

But for a prize-winning duck stamp, Ned Mayne, might still be a corporate "seat-of-the-pants engineer."

In 1980, Mayne's entry was selected to be the first Delaware duck stamp. At the time, Mayne, an art major, was employed in the engineering department of Hercules Inc. He had considered working for himself as an artist, but it wasn't until his duck stamp was chosen that he seriously contemplated it. Two years later, he made the break.

"The hardest part was telling my boss why I wanted to leave," recalled Mayne, a Hockessin bachelor. For three years, he painted and sold duck stamps and watercolors. He was catapulted into the decoy business shortly after restoring his own collection of working decoys. He now operates a profitable full-time decoy business.

Mayne admits to frequently "working 25-hour days." This, he said, was one of the unanticipated aspects of self-employment.

He worked at home and in a small Centreville studio for four years before he and Harold Hamon built a larger studio off U.S. 13 south of New Castle. The two built it in just 32 days, using "200 pounds of nails, 470 cement blocks and 51 bundles of shingles."

The building is heated by a wood stove. "In January, you can work in here in a T-shirt," said Mayne.

It's there that Mayne and three employees make working and "slightly decorative" decoys. About half are purchased by hunters, the other half by customers seeking ornamental accessories. Hunting clubs and commercial guides buy them in quantity. Many individuals buy them for their folk-art quality.

Mayne does not have to leave his studio to find buyers. Instead, they come to him, usually through word-of-mouth. "I don't advertise," he said. "I don't promote in any way."

The working decoys all have cork bodies and wooden heads and keels. Mayne says his are the only cork working decoys other than those sold by L.L. Bean, the outdoor outfitter based in Freeport, Maine. And he says he's been told by waterfowl hunters that his are the most durable.

The heads are of pine or white cedar, both impervious to rot. The decorative decoys are all wood, usually basswood. Two types of cork are used - a black cork from Portugal and a domestic cork.

A duplicaing machine with router bits is used to produce the heads. It is the same type of machine used to make furniture legs and spindles. Sanding, sealing and painting come next.

As for style, Mayne strives for nice lines and good composition. "I try to compromise between what is ornithologically correct and what is aesthetically pleasing," he said. Sometimes, he makes a quick trip to a bay beach to do research.

Occasionally, Mayne turns out a special decoy. "Once in a while, I do a real 'go-to-town piece.' " It can take up to a month to complete.

Working decoy prices range from $35 for a duck to $50 for a goose to $200 for a swan. The decorative decoys are "progressively more expensive."

Mayne has won ribbons at national and world decoy competitions and a best-in-show award at a Chincoteague (Va.) Snowgoose Competition.

He is an avid hunter and takes time off during the winter to hunt quail in Delaware, Maryland and southern New Jersey. He always takes along his companion Heidi, a German short-haired pointer.

He prefers quail hunting to other types. "Quail are fast," he said. "They get up quickly.

Mayne once did some interior design work for a friend and enjoyed it. He would like to do more some day, as well as paint watercolors, if his decoy fans will permit him the time. He also longs to write a simplified how-to book on dog training. Or, as he put it, "It would be on how to get a dog to do what you want it to do."