Description: 17th century
Depicting an owl, toucan bird, kori bustard, kingfisher, ostrich, Eurasian hoopoe, dragonfly, turkey, hummingbird, goose, caterpillar, iris flower, flying owl, butterfly and finch amongst others, based on engravings by Adriaen Collaert (1560-1618), with 'ox-head' corner motifs.
Approx. H. 13 x W. 13 cm
Literature:
Jan Pluis, De Nederlandse tegel decors en benamingen, 1570-1930, Primavera Pers, Leiden, 1998.
Note:
As in one of the tiles on offer, in the 16th and 17th century and before, the ostrich was depicted with a horse shoe in it's beak
for it was common belief that ostriches could digest iron. Birds regularly eat stones, large ones like the ostrich big stones, which led to the belief that they could digest anything, especially iron.
(23x)
