Category Archives: Birds

Animals, Birds

A flock of Royal Doulton….parrots, budgerigars and cockatoos!

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An unusual Parrot on pillar in Doulton flambé.

Parrots, also known as psittacines, are birds of approximately 393 species in 92 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, that can be found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is further sub-dividable into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea, the Cacatuoidea, and the Strigopoidea.

A selection of rare Royal Doulton birds including a character parrot (far left) holding a perpetual calendar in its mouth!

Budgies (budgerigars), also known as parakeets, are native to Australia and among the smallest parrots in the world.
A most unusual Florence Barlow pâte-sur-pâte vase originating from the Harriman Judd Collection.

As one of the most popular breeds of birds to keep as a pet, budgerigars, or budgies, are known for their outgoing and curious personalities.

A trio of early Burgeriegar on stumps in different glazes/effects.

The budgerigar is a long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie, or in American English, the parakeet.
A part teaser featuring parrots from the 1920s (pattern H2637).
In their natural Australian habitat, Budgerigars are noticeably smaller than those in captivity. This particular parrot species has been bred in many other colours and shades in captivity (e.g. blue, grey, grey-green, pieds, violet, white, yellow-blue). 
A pair of Budgeriegar and two versions of Cockatoo on stump.
A cockatoo is any of the 21 parrot species belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea.

To finish, an early catalogue page featuring an array of colourful creatures including those above!

Animals, Art deco, Art nouveau, Birds

Collecting Doulton’s early fledglings! 

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Two flambe fledglings, the darker one on the left dating to c.1913.

Introduced at the start of the HN range apparently just in flambe originally, these sweet baby birds are a super set to collect as variation after variation can be found, creating a colourful collection. 

  
Three characteristically colourful fledglings including the very rare lustre version on the right. 

Of course the term fledgling refers to baby birds and here is a group known as Thrushes (on left) and Fledglings on the right.

  
Whilst there are only a handful of models to collect the various colour schemes used mean that you may never finish collecting them all and the hunt could go on and on beyond the recorded versions! 

  
A group illustrating the ‘usual’ colourings : plain yellow, yellow with black highlights and blue and yellow. 

Animals, Art deco, Birds, Character birds

Collecting Doulton’s early ‘Character Birds’.

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HN 287 mounted on a powder bowl.

Having recently looked at powder bowls and boxes, you may have noticed some of Doulton’s early character birds used as finials.

  
A colour variation of model 338.

Introduced in 1922 and withdrawn by 1946 (although given their rarity today a much earlier withdrawal date is certain), these rare birds do occasionally appear and when try do they are typically found mounted on anything from desk accessories to menu holders and place name holders for the dinner table. 

  
A selection of character birds in the foreground seen at the ‘Gallery of Amazing Things’ in January.

There were some 11 models of birds created and all were available in more than one colourway, providing much scope for collectors. Indeed when they appear mounted on objects you are likely to find an unrecorded colourway of one of these delightful birds! 

  
A delightful version of model 338 – HN 261.

A collection of these characterful birds is acid able but it will take time and dedication to build, together with a rather deep pocket!