Jim Van Brunt Fake Buffleheads

                                     Long Island Decoy Forum Is Making A Difference

 In the Long Island Decoy Forum's post, "The Chief Cuffee Fabrication", I wrote about Bob Gerard and his inherent dishonesty. One of his scams I wrote about was him putting a ton of Wildfowler Point Pleasant, N.J. (Charles Birdsall pattern) bufflehead decoys that Bob Gerard put on the market as made by "Jim Van Brunt of Setauket". They all came with tags tied on with red yarn and a typed description saying among other things, that they were made and used by Jim Van Brunt in the 1950's.

Many collectors /dealers knew about  Gerard's fake"Van Brunt's", especially on Long Island and some even joked about them.  I was asked many times, are the Van Brunt buffleheads that Gerard is selling real?  As you might guess, I never held back.  I told them just what they were and weren't.

Bob continually sold collectors bad birds which was bad enough, but I couldn't stand his snobbish arrogance for what he deemed the lesser collectors and dealers who he referred to as peddlers. A lot of people talked about the things Gerard was doing, but most collectors wouldn't call him on it.

When Bob sold a bad bird to a collector who later found out they had been screwed, he would take the bird back usually saying there was nothing wrong with it, but he would give you back your money lickity-split.  He would eventually put the bird or birds back on the market.

He would have a pair of his fake "Van Brunt's"on his table at a time.  He or his wife would tell a prospective buyer that they were very rare decoys.  If they purchased a pair, as soon as they were out of sight, Bob would reach under his table and pull out another pair of "very rare buffleheads".

The fake Van Brunts were not the only fake Wildfowler birds he put in the market.  It was after a collector friend brought me a pair "Quogue Wildfowler teal" that looked nothing like any Quogue Wildfowler teal I had ever seen before.  He said that he had picked up the pair at a gun show in Albany.  I told him they didn't look like any Quogue teal I had ever seen and the paint was not Quogue Wildfowler paint.

The next weekend was the LIDCA annual show.  My friend came over to my table to show me another pair of "Quogue Wildfowler teal" he had just bought from the same guy who sold him the pair in Albany. I said show me this guy.  It was Gerard of course.  I knew about the fake buffleheads, but the teal, both green wing and blue wing, was a new scam, using Point Pleasant patterns made as Babylon Wildfowler factory blanks.  I told my friend, "Fred we got a problem."  As I studied the birds, I noticed the brand was not the real Quogue Wildfowler brand, that it wasn't a burned in brand, but it had been pounded in.

I exposed Gerard deceptions at every opportunity. If I saw people at a show buying or walking around with a pair of Gerard's fakes, or if they brought them to my shop for me to look at, I would tell the owner that Gerard had cheated them, and told them they should go see Gerard and get their money back, and tell Gerard I told you to return them because they were fakes.

I wrote a short article for the L.I.D.C.A. newsletter to let everyone know what was up with the "Van Brunt buffleheads".  This was latter reprinted in the M.D.C.A. newsletter which had a much larger readership, but even after my article, the auction houses and dealers, including Gerard, continued to offer them as Jim Van Brunt decoys.  It is apparent that L.I.D.F.  was the catalyst for change. Over time, the buffleheads began to be listed as"attributed to Jim Van Brunt", not as made by Jim Van Brunt.
                                               
Change Has Come

I have recently seen at least two auction houses which have sold Gerard's fakes, sans Gerard's tags .

   Duane & Merrill Auction Company March 26 2017 (Wisconsin):
Lot 493, "a pair of buffleheads original paint tacked on sheet weight to bottom ca 1950

So close but no cigar; 1950! No not 1950's, but at least they didn't attribute them to Van Brunt.

Also on March 26, 2017, Frank & Frank auctions (New Jersey):
Lot 368, pair of buffleheads, "painted and marketed by Bob Gerard".

Well finally, Hallelujah!

                    It is apparent that Long Island Decoy Forum is a catalyst for change.

Bob Gerard's fake Van Brunt's are extremely low hanging fruit for reattribution, compared to the Bunn and Bennett reattributions.  The buffleheads are so obviously Wildfowler patterned fakes.  When sold by Gerard, his" JimVan Brunt's" they were relatively cheap, at least compared to some of Gerard's other scams.  In the beginning, Gerard priced the "Van Brunt buffleheads" $250.00-$350.00 a pair.  This is for birds that should have sold for $30.00 a pair at the very most.  It has been well over twenty years since I exposed Gerard fakes Van Brunt's, and it is only now that are we seeing the fakes laid at Gerard's doorstep where they belong.

Gerard's will left what remained of his collection to be auctioned by G&S. with the proceeds going  to Ducks Unlimited, auctioned off in 2013 by Guyette &;Deeter.  A very altruistic gesture for a crooked sociopath like Gerard, but this was his final scam meant to cover up a life of lies and unbridled greed.  As I have said in the past, that Gerard's collection contained many fakes, like a well know pair of Sheldrakes that Gerard first tried to sell to Stephen O'Brien who rejected them.  He later consigned them to Guyette & Schmidt who accepted them for their November 2004 auction.  Not only that, but they proudly featured them in their ad in Decoy Magazine July/August 2004 on page 5.  I suppose they would have sold them, had they not been contacted and informed that they were not right.

G&S had to have known of Gerard's reputation as a crook, if only from Bud Ward who wasn't shy about discussing Gerard's shenanigans. So did G&S know the Sheldrakes weren't right and decided to move them for a good customer, or did they think they were right!  Now the first reason for selling them for Gerard would point out a total lack of ethics on the part of G&S.  The second reason would mean that they are not very good at they job and calls into question their claimed expertise.  Stephen O'Brien had known they weren't right and had sent them back to Gerard.

I can only assume Gerard thought his legacy would be his generous donation to D.U., but his donation to D.U. doesn't make up for all the people he swindled, and many of the birds from Gerard's collection are more than suspect.  When a turned head shorebird showed up at a L.I.D.C.A. annual show, Ronnie McGrath and many others looked at it and pronounced it as a fake.  Gerard supposedly bought it and was going to consign the bird to G&S.  Gary looked at it and said it was one of the best shorebird decoys ever, according to Gerard, but word got out that many thought it was a complete fake.  With a big black cloud hanging over the bird, Gerard didn't consign it.  He kept it in his collection.  It showed up in the Gerard auctions and was sold to a L.I.collector.

Long Island Decoy Forum will make sure collectors now and in the future know what Bob Gerard's true legacy was, which was putting untold numbers of fake birds on the market, distorting Long Island decoy history, and ripping off a lot of unsuspecting collectors.  It  is encouraging to know that my research presented in L.I.D.F.is making a difference and that at least some of the fakes Gerard put on the market will no longer be sold as Jim Van Brunt decoys.

Sometimes no matter how much evidence I have for the reattribution of other decoys, some people will say it is never enough, even when the other side has no evidence at all. So who would have thought that just by removing Bob Gerard's original tags, you can change a decoy's attribution from Jim Van Brunt buffleheads to "Bob Gerard painted and marketed buffleheads."