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A Dorothy Doughty biscuit porcelain prototype figu

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A Dorothy Doughty biscuit porcelain prototype figure of Mocking Birds (Mimus Polyglottos Polyglottos) and Peach Blossom, for the Royal Worcester American Birds Series, 1940, unmarked, 27cm high See The American Birds of Dorothy Doughty by George Savage, 1962, where Doughty comments: 'I think this is one of America's most lovely birds, both in its soft colouring and in its exquisite song. I have watched and listened to him often in the United States, but the models were done early in 1939 from a tame bird I had the great good fortune to be able to buy at a London exhibition. The harmony of his grey colouring enchanted me, but I could not think what flower to put him on, so I wrote to Alex Dickins in New York. He cabled back, 'Try Peach'. It was Spring, and we had a peach tree in bloom on the stable wall. I gathered a big spray and put it in his flight-cage. Mocking Bird at once jumped onto it, and the pink of the blooms was reflected on his oyster-coloured breast. A wonderful effect! The war came before I had finished him. Have you noticed that the sprays of peach form the 'V' sign?'

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