Finch on tree trunk

Date1748-1749

Artist/Maker Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory (1745-1769)

MediumSoft-paste porcelain

DimensionsH: 7 11/16"; W: 3 3/8"; D: 3 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1963-64

DescriptionFigure of a bird perched on tree stump with head turned half left; feathers simulated by slightly incised lines; left foot on higher branch than right; applied oak leaves scattered on stump.

Triangle period.
Label TextFigures from the triangle period are extremely rare because the Chelsea factory at that time concentrated on the production of useful tablewares, to which the triangle paste was much better adapted. Several collections, among them Rous Lench and Katz, include more than one bird of this model, most of which are looking in the same direction. Since they must have come from the same mold, they are not pairs. (One example in the Katz Collection was later painted with enamel colors and marked with a brown anchor.) These figures have been the subjects of two articles that help confirm their triangle attribution. The author of one article compares the applied oak leaves on the figures to those found on oak-leaf jugs and in the other contrasts the figures to somewhat similar Girl-in-a-Swing examples.
InscribedNo
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceEx coll: Admiral Algernon Walker-Heneage-Vivian, Swansea; Dr. Kirkland, Swansea; Tilley & Co., London

Exhibition(s)