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Collectibles-General (Antiques)/glass domed bird display

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Expert: DR. ROBERT LERCH - 6/20/2008


Question

domed bird display
Good day:

What you see here is a bird display, estimated to be more than 100  
years old. It belonged to Joe Bretski's wife's grandmother. Joe is a  
contractor who is doing some renovation for us right now. He saw my  
bird photos and asked if I could get a shot of what I'm calling his  
"avian diorama." I shot it today and enhanced it in Photoshop. There  
are 16 birds cooped up inside this glass-domed display which stands  
close to 19" in height. My allergy to dust mites really kicked in  
while working with this piece. Those must be pretty old dust mites, too!

Anyway, I'm looking for information about this kind of thing which  
probably was a popular center piece in well-to-do homes around the  
turn of the century. Have you ever seen anything like it before? Is  
there a name for this kind of thing? Do you know anyone else who has  
something like this? Do you know anyone who might be familiar with  
this kind of item?

I worked Google a short while, but came up with nothing so far. If I  
can't find anything on line, I'll contact the experts at Birds&Blooms  
for leads. I'd like to gather as much info about it as I can and do  
an article on it. While I can identify some of the birds, the others  
don't seem to appear in my Peterson Field Guide. (The ones I can ID  
are: red crossbill, black and white warbler, yellow warbler, eastern  
bluebird, scarlet tanager, and cedar waxwing. None of the three  
hummingbirds are ruby-throated hummingbirds, so the other birds I  
can't identify are likely western birds also or possibly tropicals.  
Seems to me the little guy on the upper right with the yellow crown  
was recently featured in National Geographic as having been extinct,  
but recently found again. Only a guess.)

If nothing else, this has been a welcome diversion from Barak Obama,  
gas prices, and natural disasters.

Answer
hi, this is actually a not uncommon antique form. in victorian time they did many such dome displays with taxidermy specimen birds, and often did similar pieces in diaorama box form.. i would est its value at about 2000 to 2500. i hope this is helpful

DR. ROBERT LERCH

Expertise

i am able to answer questions related to COIN OPERATED MACHINES OF ALL TYPES. TIFFANY STUDIOS LAMPS, GLASS AND ACCESORIES. AMERICAN FOLK ART. CAST IRON. GENERAL ANTIQUES

Experience

tiffany studios coin operated machines american folk art antique stained glass photography paintings art glass cast iron

Education/Credentials
nationally recognized collector board certified ear nose and throat physician

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