We are delighted to now have in stock the exceptional work of our resident Decorative Decoy Carving Teacher Mr Javad Lajevardi. A long term friend (40 Years!), Javad was trained by our father Mr Bob Ridges (RIP) who was an innovator in this field in the 1980’s.

Bob published his book called The Decoy Duck in 1988 and sadly he passed away in 1989 and we miss his dynamism, charisma and enthusiasm for his art. He ran a gallery and a carving school in Chewton Mendip with a wide variety of carved birds, swans and shore birds and was well known in the Wild Fowl Trust for his courses. Javad was one of his earliest trainees and went on to teach courses for Bob and ran his own gallery in Bristol.

Javad has recently taken up the craft again and we are thrilled to be continuing our Father’s dream to supply and teach everything about Decorative Decoy Carving. As part of our range of courses, Javad will be teaching decorative duck carving, here in our shop in Wotton under edge.

We are delighted to announce our dates:-

The first course date is June 24th/25th. there will be four seats available on the course.  You will start the duck from a pre band-sawn blank that Javad will supply  and  this time you will make a Pochard with stylised paint finish.  We will provide all the tools and materials but you will need to bring your apron.

We currently have two pieces by Javad in the shop, the Swan and a Pintail. The swan is hand carved from Jelutong wood and the Pintail is in Pine. They are painted with the attention to detail that makes them a perfect decorative piece for your home. They are not in anyway to be considered for use out in the field, as I think you’ll agree they are prized hand made works of art and each one is unique.

THE SWAN IS £695
67cm tail to breast, 86cm tail to nose, 46cm head to base, 28cm across the body.

THE PINTAIL IS £295
37cm long, 16cm wide, 16cm high