Miniature Mallard decoys by Charlie "Speed" Joiner (1921-2015), Chestertown, MD. Signed and dated 1977. Clean, dry all original pant. This pair is exceptional and sure to please. Great early miniature pair for the Joiner collector.
Charles William Joiner Jr. (1921–2015) of Betterton and Chestertown, Maryland, is widely regarded as one of the premier decoy makers of the Upper Chesapeake Bay region. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, he produced an estimated 40,000 working decoys and an untold number of miniatures, becoming a defining figure in the Havre de Grace decoy-making tradition.
Raised in the small Bay-shore community of Betterton, Joiner came of age as a waterman and hunter, fashioning his earliest decoys from painted tin antifreeze jugs. His formal introduction to the craft came in 1942 when, while renting a room in Havre de Grace, he walked down the alley to the shop of R. Madison Mitchell seeking painting advice. That visit launched a lifelong friendship and apprenticeship. Joiner absorbed Mitchell's methods with extraordinary dedication — learning every stage of production, whittling heads on his own time, and eventually synthesizing Mitchell's techniques with those of the legendary Ward Brothers of Crisfield to develop his own distinctive artistic style. His service in the U.S. Navy Sea Bees during World War II briefly interrupted his carving, but upon his return Mitchell presented him with a rig of one hundred refurbished decoys as a welcome-home gift — a gesture that speaks to the depth of their bond.
Joiner launched his own decoy business around 1950, selling birds at $35 a dozen — the same price as Mitchell — and quickly built a distinguished clientele that included the du Pont family, Senator Ed Muskie, Ted Williams, and Philadelphia Phillies owner Bob Carpenter. He was featured in national publications including Ford Times and Chevrolet Friends, and recognized in seminal decoy literature including Bob Mackey's American Bird Decoys (1965). For over forty years, distribution of his work was handled exclusively through Bob Coleman of Chestertown, and later Dave Walker of Havre de Grace.
Technically, Joiner was exceptional in every dimension of the craft. His painting — informed by close study of both Mitchell and the Ward Brothers, at times using a magnifying glass to reverse-engineer their techniques — is considered among the finest on the Bay. A signature curved primary wing feather pattern made his birds immediately identifiable. He was also remarkably efficient: a finished drake canvasback, start to finish, took him seven minutes. He worked in white pine, cedar, balsa, and cork, producing round- and flat-bottomed gunning birds, decorative carvings, miniatures, and specialty pieces across dozens of species.
Beyond his craft, Joiner was known for his generosity and civic spirit. A charter member of both the Betterton Volunteer Fire Company and the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, he contributed an estimated $150,000 in time, effort, and donations to the Museum over his lifetime. He mentored a generation of younger carvers and regularly supported causes including Ducks Unlimited. He retired from Delmarva Power in 1979 after 41 years of service, and continued carving well into his later years.