George and James Warin emigrated from England and combined their skills to start a boat building company, “G. & J. Warin, Boat Builders” (Haid 16). Both George and James frequented the marshes of the St. Clair Flats to hunt. Together with David Ward, another carver from Toronto, George co-founded the St. Clair Flats Shooting Club in 1874 (Engers 283).
The decoys the brothers carved for these clubs were either hollow or solid, but all had small low-set tails. The Warins did not carve details on their decoy bills, but the brothers did initiate a low-head style associated with the Flats. Warin decoys are better known for the elegant painting patterns. The feather painting of Warin pintails and Canadian geese have no rivals. Some decoys are identified with various stamps bearing the Warin name, but the scaup, canvasbacks, redheads and teal are easily identified by their high sterns and long, slim bills that are slightly upturned. In addition to the species already mentioned, the Warins also made black duck, mallard and ringneck decoys. The total number of decoys attributed to the Warin brothers is over two thousand, though George was responsible for carving most of them. In 1901, George was requested to guide and supply the decoys for a royal shooting party. The Duke of York, who later became King George V, travelled to Manitoba for a hunting trip and used George Warin decoys (Engers 291). George and James Warin worked together most of the time, though and rank among some of Canada’s most important decoy carvers.