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- BUSINESS, Page 55Business NotesCOLLECTIBLESThese Fish Are Keepers
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- The beauty of handmade duck decoys has long been appreciated
- by many, if not by ducks. Now collectors are discovering another
- variety of folk art: fish decoys. They have traditionally been
- used by ice fishers to lure prey within spearing range. Last
- month a 9-in. hand-carved trout with glass eyes and metal fins
- snared $18,700 at Sotheby's in New York City.
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- The first major exhibit of fish decoys opened last week at
- the Museum of American Folk Art in Manhattan. The decoys range
- from unadorned wooden designs to the elaborately painted "ghost
- fish" of Michigan carver Hans Janner Sr. "The most highly valued
- fish decoys are charming, but they are also fabulous at doing
- their jobs as tools," says Ben Apfelbaum, curator of the
- exhibition. Not all decoys are expensive. Contemporary Native
- American wooden fish can be bought for $50 to $250.
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