The Choisy Le Roi Game Bird Series

The Choisy-le-Roi Game Bird plates are a really nice series for the beginning majolica collector. They are colorful, nicely designed and can be actually used to serve on. Unlike the equally attractive rabbit plates made by the same company, they are easily found with very affordable prices.

To the best of my knowledge there are two distinct styles with a total of twelve different designs available: peacock, two roosters, two chickens with chicks, two swans, mallard, mallard hen, goose, pheasant, and crane. The first style is very shallow in its modeling with colored glazes delineating details of the background with a border of six equal scallop sides, like the bunny plates. These have a pale yellow or ivory ground. The second type is more deeply modeled, with very little glaze attention played to the surrounding details with an eight scalloped border and a pale taupe or grey colored ground.

 All of them were made in both full color and solid colors. They are always marked on the reverse "Choisy-Le-Roi, Made in France" which tells us that they were made for export some time after 1890. 

An interesting variation exists from a Philadelphia hotel, the Hotel Rodman. Dated 1903 it commemorates a Christmas dinner menu. These were probably made to order from the manufacturer.

Hotel Rodman Christmas menu

Choisy-le-Roi Hotel Rodman Christmas plate 1903

It's been my experience that the the most difficult to find of the series are the crane and the dark swan, which are very rarely seen. The other birds are more easily found.

I have also seen a similar pitcher made by Orchies that would fit in well with the Choisy-le-Roi plates. I don’t know if they made others but I would guess that they did. 

These are, of course just a a few of the game bird related items made by the company. Their rooster and chicken figures can be huge and simply breath taking and their bird vases are rare and gorgeous, but all of these are terribly expensive unlike the plates.

Choisy-le-Roi majolica rooster

Plates generally sell in the $100-$300 range depending on design and availability and can be easily found from most antique majolica dealers.