Fish sculpture, fish decoys, fish carvings and fish trophies are the names given to a style of painted
wood carving
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
practiced by various
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
s. The works are kept as
decorations
Decoration may refer to:
* Decorative arts
* A house painter and decorator's craft
* An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc.
* An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing
Other ...
and
collectible as
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...
.
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
fish carvers include
John B. Russell (Scottish),
John and Dhuie Tully,
P.B. Malloch and the Hardy Brothers. Artists
Ellen McCaleb &
Eric L Knowlton work in the United States. Styles of carving can range from simple folk art, miniature decoys, 'European' style carvings (side profile of fish usually displayed on a wood panel) and highly detailed lifesized and ultra realism. For realism, some paint on scale patterns, others carve in the scale details but most of the World Championship realistic carvings feature scales burned in with a wood-burning pen, one at a time, often with scale designs created just for that specific fish. Example from artist Eric L Knowlton of Reel Trout Studio, Alaska, shown here:
The Gathering (show) bills itself as the world's largest wooden-carved fish decoy show and is held annually in
Perham, Minnesota. It will be in its 13th year in 2010.
Events calendar
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See also
*Trophy hunting
Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the " game", is typically a mature male specimen from a popular species of collectab ...
*Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...
*Duck decoy (model)
A duck decoy (or decoy duck) is a man-made object resembling a real duck. Duck decoys are sometimes used in waterfowl hunting to attract real ducks.
Duck decoys were historically carved from wood, often Atlantic white cedar wood on the eas ...
*Big Mouth Billy Bass
Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, invented by Gemmy Industries on December 16, 1998; sold beginning January 1, 1999; and popular in the early 2000s.
Gemmy Industries
Gemmy (IPA : ) is an Americ ...
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
*Swanson, Ronald S. Fish Models, Plaques & Effigies. Far Hills, New Jersey: Meadow Run Press, Inc., 2009
*Bob Berry Fish Carving: An Introduction
*James Fliger Freshwater Fish Carving (Schiffer Book for Carvers) by 1989
*Rick Beyer Decorative Fish Carving 1990)
*Anthony Hillman Carving Traditional Fish Decoys: With Patterns and Instructions for 17 Projects 1993
Collecting
Folk art
Woodcarving