PeacockReaktion Books, 2006 M11 30 - 192 pages Breathtakingly beautiful and exotic, the peacock inspires devotion among both artists and bird lovers. Its iridescent plumage, when fully displayed, is a delight to behold. The bird itself, as Christine E. Jackson notes in Peacock, appears to enjoy its audience, preening and strutting about within a few feet of humans. It is not surprising, then, that these vain birds and their distinctive feathers have been the prized possessions of kings for nearly three thousand years. Jackson here explores the peacock’s beauty—and its apparent attitude—through fairy tales, fables, and superstitions in both Eastern and Western cultures. Peacock takes stock of the bird as it appears within art, from the earliest mosaics to medieval illuminated manuscripts to modern graphics, with a special emphasis on the peacock’s symbolic value in the nineteenth-century arts and crafts and art nouveau movements. Jackson further details the peacock’s colorful presence in hats, clothing, and even sports equipment. A sweeping combination of social and natural history, Peacock is the first book to bring together all the shimmering, colorful facets of these magnificent birds. |
Contents
7 | |
15 | |
Unnatural History | 43 |
The Blue Indian Peacock at Home | 61 |
The Blue Indian Peacock Goes West | 86 |
The Green Peacock in the East | 125 |
Artefacts and Architecture | 148 |
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Animals Argus arrows Art Nouveau artists beautiful Beebe birds BLUE INDIAN PEACOCK blue peacock blue peafowl breeding Britain British Buddha built Burma Burmese green called centimetres century Ceylon China Chinese cock colours Congo peacock CONGO PEAFOWL crane crest decorated depicted designed displaying East emperor exotic eye-spots fans feast female flowers fowl gardens glass gold green peacock green peafowl habitat Hindu illustrated India India and Sri Indus Valley iridescent Japan Japanese John Latham Juno king Leyland living birds London male manuscripts mosaic motif Mughal native natural neck ocelli Ornithologia painted palace Pavo muticus pavonina peacock appeared peacock became peacock feathers Peacock Room Peacock Throne peacock train peahen Pheasants plumage plumes porcelain pottery presence of peacocks Roman royal ships skin Solomon species specimens Sri Lanka strutting symbol tail temple tiger trade train feathers vases Whistler William wings Yunnan