Flights of Fancy Exhibition Tour
Sat 14 Sep
11am – 5pm
House & GroundsEnjoy a fascinating Flights of Fancy themed day, starting with a curator-led tour of the Flights of Fancy exhibition in the Manor. After the tour there is an opportunity to book lunch in the Restaurant before a visit to the Aviary for a “Meet The Keeper” talk to discover more about our live birds and life at the Aviary. Afterwards there is time to enjoy the gardens at your leisure.
Schedule of the Day
Enjoy a private tour of the Flights of Fancy exhibition in the Manor
Enjoy lunch (if pre-booked) in the Manor Restaurant made by our talented Waddesdon chefs
Visit our Rococo style Aviary for a ‘Meet the Keeper’ talk from one of our knowledgeable Aviary Keepers
Explore the grounds at your leisure with the chance to re-enter the Manor
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’.
Waddesdon’s own impressive collection of Sèvres painted by Armand includes ten vases from the 1750s-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.
Flights of Fancy: Birds at Waddesdon
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.
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New Range by Madeleine Floyd
Birds have even taken over the Manor shop, with the introduction of a new product line designed by artist Madeleine Floyd, inspired by encounters with the work of Armand and the inhabitants of the Aviary themselves.
Waddesdon’s environmental conservation work extends beyond the Aviary and its breeding programmes too, into the managed habitats of the wider garden and on the Waddesdon Estate. The exhibition in the Manor also explores this important activity, including the creation of new wetlands on the Estate, now home to around 130 species of migratory birds and other animals.
Birds have long fascinated successive generations of the Rothschild family. From collecting, breeding and studying them to collecting art that represents both real and fantasy birds, no other living creature has proved quite so captivating to the Rothschilds. The first Rothschild family parks and gardens included ornamental birds and buildings for them to occupy – aviaries, model farms with dovecotes, lakes with duck houses, and even a temple inhabited by flamingos!