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On such a rainy day, I thought it necessary to post a sunny picture from earlier this week. While walking along the lake, I spied a mother mallard and her nine tiny ducklings. So many babies! That poor female. Nature dictates that she must care for them all by herself. She looked proud nonetheless.

As for the drake, he had probably flown away to await the moulting process.

This Limoges plate depicts a quacking male mallard as he takes flight from the grassy edge of a lake. I love the solitary iris to the left and the touches of purple in the blades of grass. The white underside of the mallard’s wing has a wonderful raised, ‘feathered’ texture. It seems as though the drake is about to protrude from the picture plane. The artist who painted my plate was obviously very skilled, but he or she did not leave a signature behind.

There is a Lewis Straus & Sons mark dating between 1891 and c.1920 on the back side. 

I should mention that this plate is one of a pair that I own. You’ll probably recognize the other from the header of my blog homepage. It depicts small white blossoms and a beautiful exotic bird. I’ve tried to research the bird and it looks like a mash-up of a cockatiel, cockatoo, and lorikeet. If you know what species it actually is, please let me know! 

I love these plates. It seems like they might have been part of a larger set originally. With any luck, maybe I’ll find more someday!