A Saxon Colour Priest pigeon with impressive 'muffs' (feathered feet) painted in a natural setting by British artist Joseph W Ludlow (1840-1916) for the rare 'Illustrated Book of Pigeons with Standards for Judging' (also known as 'Cassell's Pigeon Book'), written by Robert Fulton and first published in 1876 with 50 chromolithograph illustrations.
A 'muff legged' Saxon Priest, a variety of the Saxon Colour fancy pigeon breed developed over many decades by careful selective breeding to have a distinctive wattle above the beak, a green neck, a red breast and impressive 'muffs' - feet covered in feathers. This example of the Saxon Priest was depicted in a natural setting with two other pigeons by the 19th century British bird artist Joseph Williamson Ludlow for a rare volume first published in 1876: 'The Illustrated Book of Pigeons with Standards for Judging', also known as 'Cassell's Pigeon Book'. Joseph Ludlow (1840-1916) specialised in portraying domestic birds, including various types of poultry. The artwork of which this is a detail was one of 50 he painted to be reproduced as chromolithographs in the book, which was published by Cassell, Petter and Galpin, written by Robert Fulton and edited by Lewis Wright. The book ran to nearly 400 pages, providing pigeon fanciers with a comprehensive guide to breeding and raising fancy and ornamental birds. It sold well over several editions in the 1870s and 1880s and is still regarded as a useful reference work. However, complete examples in good condition with all of the pages and colour plates intact are now very rare.
Size: 4878px × 4877px
Location: 'The Illustrated Book of Pigeons' by Robert Fulton, illustrated by Joseph Williamson Ludlow (1876)
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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