Proud as a Peacock

There is a reason peacocks are proud - look at those feathers. Our fascination with this beautiful bird, which originates from India and Sri Lanka, goes back thousands of years. We have always treasured the tail feathers, and until the last two hundred years, the peacock was a dining delicacy for the upper classes of many societies.

Peacocks are such a feast for the eyes that they have always been an inspiration for and subject of many facets of interior design. They have been featured on fabric, wallpaper, china, rugs, pillows, and of course paintings. Following are some wonderful images of this regal bird in the design world.

Antique Limoges plate below left and Copeland Spode Peacocks right









Classic peacock wallpaper from Florence Broadhurst (photo from Australian House and Garden)


Beautiful peacock tile from Jerusalem pottery



Peacock fabric from Spoonflower


A peacock screen from Inviting Home



Oiseaux er Fleurs Wallpaper from Schumacher


Lamps from Amazon


Bookends from Reigning Gifts


The great southern writer Flannery O'Connor was deeply interested in, loved and raised peafowl on her farm Andalusia in Milledgeville, Georgia. She describes them so well:

“When the peacock has presented his back, the spectator will usually begin to walk around him to get a front view; but the peacock will continue to turn so that no front view is possible. The thing to do then is to stand still and wait until it pleases him to turn. When it suits him, the peacock will face you. Then you will see in a green-bronze arch around him a galaxy of gazing, haloed suns.”