Description: Figure permanently mounted on round footed base, intended to be covered with a glass dome. Top of base is a 3/4 inch diameter inner-ground of fine sand. Heron has cast lead legs and feet, lead-strip crest feathers, glass eyes. Signed "Gilley" on side of driftwood "stump" below left side of bird ; no date.
Description: Adult male Eastern bluebird ; ovoid pine base with multi-twigged branch rising from off-center; narrow-bodied bird sits on a lower twig, head turned to left and slightly raised ; glass eyes, metal feet, no visible legs. Inscribed: "Bluebird by Wendell Gilley for Harold and Gladys Townsend Xmas 1976" on underside of base
Description: One of sixty-one carvings exhibited in a major museum retrospective "Downeast Bird Carvings by Wendell Gilley" at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia in 1976/77. Adult male northern flicker in a feeding position on driftwood mount ; glass eyes, cast lead feet with curved talons "gripping" the curves of the driftwood ; signed "Gilley" in black ink on lower left of the upper surface of the mount ; additionally signed on the flat underside of the base in three separate areas: "Yellow-shafted Flicker" and "By W.H. Gilley 1969" and "Made especially for Dr. & Mrs. J.L. Hollander." [show more]
Description: Woodcock on driftwood base ; head turned slightly to the right. Signed "Gilley" on right side of base ; inscribed "Woodcock by W. H. Gilley" on underside of base. No date visible.
Description: Herring gull perched on wooden post. No date or signature visible. Stamp "W.H. Gilley" visible under white paint between legs. Bird detaches from base.
Description: Eagle standing over fish. Signed "Gilley" on front of base; inscribed "Bald Eagle 1982 by W.H. Gilley" on underside of base. Metal fish is removeable.
Description: Adult male, body held horizontal and low with tail fanned and pin arched upward ; head fully outstretched, twisted upward and to the right ; wire legs and metal webbed feet ; glass eyes ; signed "Gilley '61" on right rear side of base
Description: Six-board pine box, lap-joined and nailed, with clear acrylic finish ; rounded-edge lift cover, carved underneath to set in box cavity. Five-inch long mallard is screw-mounted lengthwise in the center of cover ; has two curled lead-strip tail-curls, glass eyes. Marked "Made for Hilda and Hulda Bragdon" on underside of box. Signed "Made by Wendell Gilley" and dated 1950 (in a circle).
Description: Miniature adult; glass eyes, wire legs set into smooth round base with painted feet; body horizontal, head semi-erect, facing forward; underside of base marked/signed "Addie Gilley, by W. H. Gilley." Elmer Crowell copy
Description: Resting bird, head slightly tucked, bill downwards, tail swept up and wing tips cropped; minimal carved detail, incised wings ; glass eyes, metal legs and feet with talons clutching downward on driftwood burl base. Signed "Gilley" on top of base, lower left; no date on piece but approximately 1948.
Description: Gull in adult plumage, head erect and straight ahead, wing tips balanced high over tail, feet braced on a navigational buoy called a red nun. Glass eyes, wire legs and metal feet. Buoy painted with white Arabic numeral "4". Carved oval pine base, gouge-carved and painted to resemble sea water. No date visible.
Description: Herring gull in adult plumage, taking off from a smooth burl driftwood base ; carved with minimum of detail; outside wing edges notched to suggest feathers; painted eyes, bill, legs and feet. W.H.G. marked on underside of base ; no date on piece but probably from the 1940s
Description: Male bufflehead in adult plumage, swimming position ; head withdrawn and turned slightly to the left ; glass eyes, matte black, white, greys with minimal body detail ; blending of red/orange on head behind white wedge. Underside signed in pyrographic scratching "W.H.G." "Gilley" branded in script. Also written in felt-tip pen " '82 Buffle-Head".
Description: Canvasback drake in swimming position, adult plumage, scant carved detail ; completely withdrawn head, turned slightly to the right. Signed "by W. H. Gilley 1971"
Description: Adult in swimming position, head erect on slightly bent neck facing straight forward; glass eyes ; signed "Gilley 72" on underside where felt is cut away
Description: Now known as American Wigeon ; marked "Baldpate '74, #28" on underside of base ; humped "clamshell" base is a driftwood burl ; wire legs and metal feet with tiny talons; signed "Gilley" on left front of base
Description: Adult male and female mounted on pine and twig base, the lower bird (female) in downward crouching position, the male perched on lower fork of twig ; wire legs and metal feet, glass eyes ; signed "Gilley" on carved base.
Description: Adult, standing on mesquite base, tail erect ; glass eyes, metal feet, carved, burned, and painted detail ; carved circa 1977, painted and completed winter, 1981. Signed "Gilley" with artist's branding iron on flat side of base. Companion piece 81.1.175.
Description: Life-size adult "running" on mesquite base ; glass eyes, metal feet, carved, burned and painted detail ; carved circa 1977, painted and completed winter 1981. Unsigned. Companion piece 81.1.174.
Description: Solitary sandpiper perched with wings upright on driftwood branch ; spotted sandpiper standing, body tilted downward, on carved oblong base. Signed "Gilley" on left front of oblong base ; no date
Description: Adult woodcock with feet stretching downward over face of the domed burl base ; head erect facing straight ahead with long bill pointed downward ; glass eyes, wire legs and metal feet. Signed "Gilley '80" on right side of base ; Marked "Woodcock by W.H. Gilley 1980" on underside of base.
Description: No base ; carved from balsa wood ; glass eyes, cast metal three-toed feet ; flat polychrome paint is applied in a somewhat stylized rather than strictly naturalistic, feather treatment ; Signed "Gilley" between feet below a small round hole ; no date
Description: Two adult birds on a roughly "J" shaped driftwood base ; glass eyes ; cast lead legs and feet. Signed "Gilley" on right side of driftwood base below the sitting gull ; inscribed "Made for Hilda - Hulda Bragdon 1972" on underside of base.