The are a lot os Poole Delphis spear plates around but very few of them have pictures of animals on them - and those that do usually feature fish.

So this plate is a rarity in having a picture of a large bird on it. I haven't quite decided what the bird is - possible a Crane or Heron (although my wife swears that it's a Northern Kori Bustard).

Anyway, you can see that it is standing in front of the sun (which adds to the Kori Bustard theory) with it's head turned to the right and is painted in some great colours.

The plate, which is 17 inches long, was painted by Josephine Wall in 1967 and is in very good condition with no chips or cracks but, as you can see, there is some straining to the back of the plate.