Presents for peacock lovers
Beauty and Power
Peacock blue can represent sophistication, serenity, beauty as well as style. Accented with a few gold carefully curated pieces can bring an interior alive with a warm inviting and playful sense of allure.
Many ancient civilisations and cultures have embraced the symbol of a Peacock. It was even found in an Egyptian tomb from 3150 BCE. A depiction of a Peacock was found adorning the walls with spread wings. According to ancient mythology, the Peacock symbolises eternal life. This important motif has played an essential role in defining cultures throughout the world including India, East Asia, Ancient Persia, Greece, and Rome.
In Early Christianity, peacocks symbolised the opportunity for eternal life (I’m not sure though if I am honest I would personally wish for this!). Peacocks have been the symbol of wealth, beauty and rebirth since ancient times – as well as a symbol of dangerous pride.
Indian Art & Culture
In India, the Peacock is the national bird symbolising good fortune and royalty. The national bird also projects strength and power and its feathers immortality and immunity to evil. The peacock motifs in Indian art portray wealth and luxury and pride. It became the symbol of Indian royalty from the 1800s.
In Madhbani paintings a peacock symbolises love, knowledge and prosperity. This is one of the richest examples of Indian art and culture expressed with a combination of bright, vivid colours reflecting ancient Indian culture.
In Rajasthan, Pichwai is a traditional form of painting symbolising the importance of the bird in Hinduism, in Lord Khrishna’s life. The intricate details also centre around other motifs such as mountains, trees, lotuses and cows.
Rajasthan is popularly known as the ‘Land of the Kings’. For centuries The Peacock Throne became an important symbol in India used as the ‘throne of emperors’ of the Mughal Empire of India. It was commissioned in the early 17th century by Emperor Shah Jahan, creator and designer of the Taj Mahal. It was located in the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audiences, or Ministers' Room) in the Red Fort in Delhi. The throne was named after a peacock as two peacocks are shown dancing at its rear.
Title: Portrait of Shah Jahan on the Peacock Throne
Source: Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art
William Morris & The Arts & Crafts Movement
Many designers around the world over the centuries have incorporated peacock motifs in their various designs. Today, it remains as popular as ever. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Western cultures especially, borrowed this motif and looked to Indian art as a source of inspiration. Fine pieces of jewellery, wallpaper, architecture and interiors were created as a result of this iconic image.
For example, the rich colours and swirling feather patterns of peacocks were perfectly suited to the interlaced repeat foliage designs fabrics and wallpapers of the Arts & Crafts Movement, which subsequently became a springboard for the Art Nouveau Movement. In 1878, William Morris (1834-1896), Father of the Arts & Crafts Movement, designed Peacock & Dragon fabric depicting twisting dragons and proud peacocks centred in a mirrored repeat. It was manufactured by his company, Morris & Co of London. Morris and his circle despised industrialisation and mass-produced goods. He instead espoused designing and making hand-crafted items for the home and office by skilled artisans. He took inspiration for his designs direct from nature and other cultures including Islamic. He was also captivated by peacocks.
Morris was already a highly successful designer and textile weaver (self-taught) when he began manufacturing heavier woven textiles in 1877. Using a wide loom he bought from Lyon in France, he was able to produce patterns on a larger scale.
Source: Peacock & Dragon design, Morris & Co: V&A Museum Collections
The Peacock & Dragon was among one of his earliest produced patterns on a larger loom. It exemplifies his love of intertwining natural forms of animals and plants based on his own closely observed observations of nature. Morris also drew upon an extensive knowledge of oriental textiles, especially from the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A Museum). It is believed that this design was inspired by a visit by Morris to Vincent Robinson’s shop in London in 1878. Morris later wrote that the room was ‘from Damascus…all vermilion and gold and ultramarine very beautiful and is just like going into the Arabian Nights’ (Source: V&A Collections).
Morris first used this wonderful design for curtains, which hung in the drawing room of his London home, Kelmscott House. It was later marketed and found popularity especially with American clients attracted to the stylised motifs and wonderful more muted colours achieved by experimenting with vegetable dyes. It proved to be one of Morris & Co’s most successful designs. Today, you can select it in many different colour ways.
The Peacock Room: James McNeill Whistler
Another famous peacock inspired design was by the Aesthetic designer, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).
Source: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonium
Whistler designed the Peacock Room as it has become known for his client, the wealthy shipping magnate of the time, Frederick Leyland (1831-1892). Whistler, however, completely went off brief for his designs, much to the fury of Leyland. The resulting design that he managed to create between 1876-77, is one of the most magnificent and extravagant room devoted to deifying peacocks, possibly, of all time. He called it ‘Harmony in Blue & Gold’. Whistler was originally commissioned to show-case Leyland’s fine collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain collection in the room. Leyland trusted his then friend Whistler to execute the brief and left the artist to transform the room to his exact specifications while away on business. He later returned to a transformed space but not the one Leyland had intended. Whistler had decided to paint over Leylands’ expensive and imported leather wall coverings. He had also gilded the rooms shelving and covered the entire ceiling with a deep blue, green with a gold peacock motif.
Leyland was so furious that he refused to pay Whistler his fee. He felt that it was completely off brief. Whistler hit back in anger and frustration. He decided to paint a mural with two fighting peacocks, which he titled ‘Art and Money’. He felt his artistic integrity had been insulted.
Source: National Museum of Asian Art: Smithsonium
The peacocks now forever symbolise the two men and the ensuing feud. The room was later purchased in 1904 by Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), which he installed in his home in Detroit. He later moved it to his museum at the Smithsonian Institution.
The room can now be viewed in the Freer Gallery of Art in the Smithsonian Museum, part of the National Museum of Asian Art. I urge you to visit if you can one day. The Smithsonian has a virtual view of the room online if not. This design has been copied by designers many times in different ways over the years.
I have always been drawn to peacocks and the majestic sweep of their amazing fan tails. Peacock colours and designs inspire me to incorporate them into interior decorating, design, or selecting unique pieces for my gifts website. A Peacock represents Foraging for Antiques in our logo. It was important to choose a symbol anchored in art and design over many centuries, one that represents beauty, style, longevity and intrigue.
Like a peacock, our beauty is displayed when we spread our wings and show the world what we have to offer! This applies to life, art and choosing that special thing that gives you joy and beauty in your home or a unique gift.
