Rare 1930's Female Silver Appleyard - Vintage Irish Taxidermy

Female Silver Appleyard Duck - Domestic Bred Duck - Vintage Irish Taxidermy - TX1/42-W

We bought this Vintage bird as one of a pair from an old Lodge in County Kerry in Ireland. It had been together with a little female Teal since they were first displayed in the 1930s however the little lady Teal has already moved to a new home. The SILVER APPLEYARD is a British breed of domestic duck.  First bred in the first half of the twentieth century by Reginald Appleyard with the aim of creating a dual-purpose breed that would provide both a good quantity of meat and plenty of eggs, ****** THIS BREED IS NOW CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ******

Some birds were taken to the United States in the 1960s, and the breed was added to the STANDARD OF PERFECTION OF THE AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION IN 2000.

This Silver Appleyard stands at 14" or 35.5cm tall (including base), 6" or 15cm wide and 14" or 35.5cm deep. The bird and stand together weigh nearly 1.2kgs; most of the weight is in the base which is made varnished wood with a rough, stippled and  painted plaster covering representing a muddy bank. Her plumage is brown, beige and white with the distinctive `mallard' flash of blue on her wings. This lovely duck is sadly becoming rare - our specimen dates from the 1930s and we know her history. It is also hard to find any preserved specimens and this is a rare item.