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Wading Bird: C.812-1928

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An image of Animal figure
An image of Animal figure
An image of Animal figure
Current Location: Gallery 27 (Glaisher)

Titles

Wading Bird

Maker(s)

Factory: Unidentified Staffordshire factory

Entities

Categories

Description

White stoneware, painted with cobalt-blue and salt-glazed

White salt-glazed stoneware painted with a little dark cobalt-blue. The wading bird (probably a crane) stands facing to the right in front of a tall tree stump on a ten-sided mound base. Its eyes and claws and the edge of the base are coloured blue. The base is decorated with applied floral sprays, and there is a stem on each side of the tree trunk. The figure originally had a second bird, now missing, standing on the other side of the trunk

Notes

History note: Purchased in London in 1905 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 30.2 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

18th Century, third quarter
George II
Circa 1750 CE - 1760 CE

Note

The crane was based on a Chinese blanc-de-chine taper or brush holder. Originally this model had another bird on the other side of the stump. A complete example was bequeathed to the British Museum by Wallace Elliot in 1938. For comparable Chinese figures, see Fitzwilliam Museum C.36A & B-1962.

Components of the work

Surface composed of salt-glaze
Decoration composed of cobalt-blue

Materials used in production

Stoneware

Techniques used in production

Press-moulding : White stoneware, press-moulded in parts, assembled, painted in cobalt blue and salt-glazed
Salt-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.812-1928
Primary reference Number: 76143
Old object number: 443

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Wading Bird" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76143 Accessed: 2025-12-07 11:17:20

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76143 |title=Wading Bird |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-07 11:17:20|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-76143

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

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<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa7/C_812_1928_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Wading Bird"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Wading Bird</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

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