Paul and Irene Osborn wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> A relative has a dinner set (circa 1930) which is labelled "Chelsea
> Bird" on the back and depicts a bird on the front. I am trying to find
> out what this bird is, if indeed it exists outside the imagination of
> the artist (A. Roberts).
>
> The bird appears to be a pheasant of some sort but not one I am
> familiar with. The male has a pinkish-red crest, a yellow neck and a
> purple breast. The belly is crimson, the shoulders red and the
> primaries brown. It has a blue back, long yellow legs and a very long
> tail the same colour as it's crest. The crest is lying back over it's
> head and hangs down over it's neck. The female has a blue head, the
> same colour crest, but consisting of a few feathers sticking straiht
> up and curling forward at the top in the manner of a California Quail.
> She has a white throat, yellow neck extending down to the breast and
> yellow armpits. The tail is similar to that of the male but smaller.
> The dinner set was made in Staffordshire, England. Has anyone any idea
> what this bird is?
>
> Paul Osborn
> Cooranbong NSW
>
>
I believe that this design on china and porcelain is based on an 18th
Century one - possibly originally from the Chelsea factory.
I have always taken it to be a rather 'hearsay' version of the Golden
Pheasant.
Never mind the accuracy - it's very decorative.
Anthea Fleming in Ivanhoe (Vic).
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