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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
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