The Minton Majolica Peacock at MAAS

In September 2019, I visited and photographed the Minton Majolica peacock on display at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.  My interest in this bird stemmed from the survival of an identical piece now labelled as the "Loch Ard Peacock". I have written previously about this artefact in my investigations into the wrecking of the Loch Ard in 1878.

The MAAS peacock dates to 1875 and is on display as part of the Icons: From the MAAS Collection exhibit (https://ma.as/206174).

Strangely the MAAS display indicates that one of these peacocks had been on display at the 1880-1881 Melbourne Exhibition.  That exhibition was the destination for the Loch Ard Peacock, and but I could not find any record of it making it there.

The main purpose of this post is to provide some photos of the Peacock 'conservatory ornament', a task that is not as easy at Flagstaff Hill as the Flagstaff artefact is behind glass.

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The Milton Peacock overlooking a 1928 Bugatti at MAAS.

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Tail view

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Tail detail

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Vine view

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Head detail

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Blackberry leaves

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Fungi

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Claw