A little bird gave Joe Ellis an idea for a coffee table book

CORNWALL — Given some thought and a chance to do a little research, one can come up with more than a few items designed to be useful, but over time relegated to a decorative role.

But it would be hard to find those that have morphed from purely functional to much-sought-after art, or that have endured in one capacity or another for more than 2,000 years.

Native North Americans first used wild duck decoys, carved from wood or shaped from straw. Decoys are still in use by hunters, and have long been the creative output of talented carvers — or whittlers, as some call them.

People like Joe Ellis, especially those who share his keen interest in birds, appreciate both the artistic aspect and the educational.

“A early as the 1400s, artists would do accurate bird sketches that others would color in. Those sketches became the first bird guide books,†Ellis said. “Carved decoys and birds added a greater dimension to that knowledge.â€

Ellis, a resident of Cornwall and New York City, is the author of the newly released book, “Birds in Wood and Paint: American Miniature Bird Carvings and Their Carvers, 1900-1970.â€

He will talk about the book and the amazing carvers profiled within, at the Cornwall Historical Society on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. The free presentation is co-sponsored by Sharon Audubon.

Ellis, a retired partner with Goldman Sachs, was on vacation with his wife, Barbara, on Cape Cod in 1995. They stopped into Pleasant Bay Antiques in South Orleans.

“I did a huge double-take when I saw a table with tiny carved birds. I’d never seen miniatures before.â€

He bought several of them and set out to learn more about the carver, Elmer Crowell. He developed a fascination with the man who lived in East Harwich, Mass., for his entire life, from 1862 to 1951.

These days, Crowell’s duck decoys fetch record prices at auction. Two have sold for more than a million dollars each. He carved and painted at least 200 species of birds, in intricate detail, an output that Ellis finds particularly impressive.

Crowell took to carving in the early 1900s, when it became a craft more than a vocation. The miniatures, about 2 to 4 inches long, were prompted by demand from hunters, who took to that type of art, and tourists, who were plentiful on the Cape.

“He not only gave us wonderfully accurate representations of so many birds, he also created a subset of the decoy market with his miniatures.â€

When Ellis decided to do a book about the miniatures, he had already published a book on finance, aimed at helping the average person understand market trends and to invest wisely. Although entirely different, he found the intuitive process behind each book to be similar.

Ellis put three years into the bird book, seeking out carvers all through New England. Most of the book’s 270 or so photographs are his. The stories document 11 major carvers, and about 17 other lesser-known artisans. From Rhode Island to Maine, he visited libraries, shops and museums, and sat down with carvers in their backyard worksheds or at their kitchen tables. He discovered a wide variety of styles, from the very representational to the minimalist to the folksy. He heard their stories. Many were elderly men whose regular vocations had been all but phased out; they were shoemakers or taxidermists. But when they had no other work left, they found they had the skills and talents needed for the task of sculpting birds.

Ellis’ book is available at at the House of Books in Kent, and on the Internet at sites such as Amazon.com.