Ancient Mystery Chicken

[stoneunhenged]

It could certainly be a Polish hybrid or it could be a fanciful amalgamation of breeds brought together by the imagination of the artist. But, I wouldn't rule out some variant of other rare European breeds that have topknots or crests; Sulmtalers, Swedish flower hens, etc. There are many rare breeds that have some pretty amazing feather configurations on their heads, and many are virtually unheard of in the New World.

 

[tinychicky]

lots of breeds have been around for many hundreds of years, games being some of the most ancient. the hen looks like it'll become an orp and the roo a game. i've noticed that in many old chicken paintings a lot of the roos have crests so it might just be added by the artist for decoration. the feet also look greenish or slatey so maybe the painter was just excited about some new exotic breed and thought to make them that way. it's not necessarily a real chicken, painted from life, it could be totally made up by the artist.

 

[Sparklee]

Where was Jan in 1710? He died in England in 1718. Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Knowing where he was when he painted it would help. His life among Dutch birds might give us a clue also.

I bet he just made it up. He was obviously being a little creative. (Let's see ... chickens have some stripey feathers sometimes so I'll put some back here in back to draw the eye up to the bird in the top right hand corner.) Why would he throw in so many birds? Well, if the person who commissioned the painting wanted all of those birds in, then that's what he would paint. I had a friend once who had to put a bunch of birds and mammals in a painting for someone who was tossing money around.

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=5684&searchid=14018&tabview=image

That big bird looking down on all, it looks a little like a bald eagle to me. Is it the black kite? In fact, it looks sort of like the eagle on top of the US Embassy there in London in Grosvenor Sq. And yet in 1710, there was no US Embassy.

 

[Jake Levi]

The roo and the hen look like Icelandics, if not them they could be one of the Norwegian breeds then,

go to the Icelandic thread here and you will see many that look like them. Crests of all kinds are common in Icelandics , I have half a dozen that are, and combs are very diverse also.

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
I have yet to see a V comb Icelandic and the hen just doesn't look it.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

When I saw it I instantly thought of a Sulmtaler. However they don't have v-combs?

Another similar breed--perhaps more inclined to barring or cuckoo patterning--Posavska kukmica

How about these guys? They have a variety of combs...and how long does it take when cross-breeding to change comb type?

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/OldPol/BRKOldPol.html

I think the other bird (up top) is a Quetzal?

I also find it interesting that the duck is crested.

 

[lvchicken]

What a pretty painting! I never knew Polish were so old!