Enfilade

Now on view at Waddesdon:

Flights of Fancy: Birds at Waddesdon
Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, 22 May – 27 October 2024

Curated by Mia Jackson

Snuff-box with Sèvres porcelain plaques, 1758, painted by Louis-Denis Armand (Waddesdon Image Library, photo by Mike Fear).

Flock to Waddesdon this summer for a celebration of birds. Throughout the Manor, Aviary, and Gardens discover a range of bird-themed exhibitions, events, and activities for all the family.

Flights of Fancy is a rare chance for bird enthusiasts and art lovers alike to explore this beautiful subject through our birds and remarkable displays of porcelain, paintings, drawings, and prints. The exhibition features the life and work of the recently rediscovered Louis-Denis Armand (1723–1796), a painter at the world-famous Sèvres porcelain manufactory. Widely acknowledged as the most talented bird painter at Sèvres, his birds were initially ‘flights of fancy’, drawn from his wild imagination but as time went on, they gained ornithological accuracy. He also drew exotic birds from life, picking and choosing elements to combine and exaggerate. Waddesdon’s own impressive collection of Sèvres painted by Armand includes ten vases from the 1750s and 60s and important pieces from the Razumovsky dessert service. These are displayed alongside nearly 50 loans from private collections and from the Musée national de céramique at Sèvres.