Portsmouth Island, North Carolina, circa 1900, carved and painted wood.

Length 23 in.

From the Personal Collection of Mr. Kroghie Andresen, Charlotte, North Carolina

Former collection of Philip and Susan Harvey.
Blue Ribbon winner of the Best Portsmouth Island Decoy, December 7, 2013, Core Sound Decoy Festival.

John Wallace Salter, the son of Christopher Thomas Salter and Matilda Styron Salter, was born and raised on Portsmouth Island. One of nine children, he was thirteen when his father died. John went to work oystering, fishing, and hunting. He became a market hunter, and according to his son Ben, he shipped geese, brant, and ducks by the "sugar barrel full" to a man up north. His Portsmouth home later became a hunting lodge known as "The Salter Gun Club". The most noted hunter the Salter family ever guided was Babe Ruth. Babe came to hunt at Portsmouth with his friend William Blades of New Bern. After that the family named one of their blinds "The Babe Ruth Blind." This goose decoy has significant historic and artistic relevance.

Original paint worn to bare wood, age checks to body, working repair to the neck.