One of the more unusual stories in the history of majolica is that of the Minton majolica Loch Ard peacock.
The British Loch Ard clipper c.1873
The Loch Ard was a three mast iron hulled British clipper ship built in 1863 by the Loch Line of Glasgow to carry cargo and passengers between Liverpool and Melbourne. On March 2, 1878 it left England bound for Melbourne under Captain George Gibb, its third such trip, heavy with cargo and 54 passengers onboard—17 civilians and a crew of 37. Among the cargo onboard were items destined for display at the 1880 International Exhibition in Melbourne. One of these items was a Minton majolica peacock whose care of transport was placed specifically under the care of Captain Gibb.
Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Australia 1880
The Minton peacock is a life-sized sculpture by French artist Paul Comolera modeled in 1870 and created in majolica in 1873 specifically for Minton. The statue stands slightly under five feet tall with the peacock on a highly detailed rock surrounded by various flora and fauna. Minton only made twelve of these peacocks, although that number is in dispute, and it is believed that nine have survived. It is considered to be among the last surviving examples of Minton’s finest majolica work.
English Registration photo for the Minton peacock
The Minton majolica peacock
After an uneventful voyage, on May 31, 1878, the Loch Ard encountered bad weather that culminated in a thick fog. The ship veered off course as the ship approached the Australian coast. As the fog lifted in the early hours of June 1, Captain Gibb was horrified to discover that the ship had drifted far closer to the coast near Mutton Bird Island than had been expected. Despite attempts to draw the ship back out to sea the vessel crashed against the rocky reef surrounding the island.
Loch Ard Captain George Gibb
The crash devastated the ship. The three masts crumbled blocking attempts to launch the lifeboats and killing some onboard. The vessel sank in fifteen minutes.
A contemporary engraving of the scene on the
Loch Ard as the passengers and crew rush to get to the lifeboats.
All but two of those onboard drowned. The survivors were a teenaged civilian named Eveline (Eva) Carmichael, who lost seven members of her family in the wreck, and Thomas Pearce, a teenaged apprentice midshipman.
A vivid and rather graphic account of the ship's sinking was provided by surviver Pearce to a local newspaper:
"Pearce, the male survivor, tells me, in answer to my question how it was that the crew were not smarter in launching the boats when the ship struck, that the men seemed to be in a state of stupefaction through fear. Some of them were praying, and others crying, and exclaiming, "We shall all be drowned." There can be no doubt that the scene on board on that morning was something to appal (sic) even the stoutest heart. The ship was bumping heavily on the rocks, and with every roll of the sea her spars would strike heavily against the side of the cliffs, and would fall crashing through the decks. Pearce states that, when on the bridge clearing away the boats, a great portion of one of the top-gallant yards fell from aloft, and caught an able seaman named Hazeldine in the middle of the back, passing right through him, and then through the deck, so as to impale him. His death was, of course, almost instantaneous, but his horrible, scream of death agony appears to have added to the fears already experienced by the men."
The account described the scene afterwards:
The Loch Ard appears to have foundered in 16 fathoms of water, for there is only a small portion of the mizen mast visible above the surface of the water. The ship lies about a quarter of a mile from the main land, but she is close to a small island with frowning cliffs fully 200ft. in height, against which the yards of the ship appear to have grazed as she was tossed by the merciless waves
In another account Pearce told of the final hours on board the ship and the rescue.
"Thomas Pearson (sic), who says that for two days previous to the morning of the 1st June the sky was so overcast that Captain G. Gibb was unable to take an observation, and it was only at about four o'clock on the morning of 1st June that the lookout saw the danger, the reef being at that time scarcely half a mile from the ship, the ship being under close reefed topsails, running before the wind. The captain was on deck at the time the discovery was made. He gave orders to haul the ship to the wind, but she could not weather the land. We then let both anchors go with 50 fathoms of cable—one each. She did not hold, but was dragging on shore.
When we were about a hundred and fifty yards from the rocks we slipped both anchors, and tried to put on sail, but only just got the mainsail set when the vessel struck the rocks on her starboard quarter. At this time it was just breaking day. Immediately she struck, the topmast went overboard, striking in its passage two seamen, and carrying them overboard, one appearing to be struck dead on the spot. Pearson (sic) was standing close to them at the time. The captain at once gave orders to get the boats out and to have the lady passengers put in them. It was not done, as the waves were washing over the decks. Pearson (sic), with five other sea men, got into the life-boat, and were at once washed overboard. When he came to himself he swam to the boat and kept with it while it drifted into a small bay, close by where the ship struck.”
“When it was well daylight he found himself drifting towards the beach, and managed to get ashore on a table that was drifting ashore at the time. The beach was strewn with cases and drift wood. After he had recovered a little he was walking about trying to discover some of the passengers or crew, when, after a little time, he heard a cry, and on looking in the direction it came from, he saw a lady clinging to a spar, about fifty yards out. He at once swam out to her. She appeared insensible, clinging tightly to the spar. After, some trouble he disengaged her hands and dragged her ashore, and pulled her into a cave. He gave her some stimulant and covered her up, and layed down himself to sleep, being exhausted. He thinks he must have slept about two hours, and on awaking found the young lady apparently recovering."
The place in which they landed is an area now known as Loch Ard Gorge. The two survivors sheltered in a cave on the shore until two livestock herders, W.C. Till and George Ford saw Tom wandering about looking for help and rescued them. They took them to the home of their employer W.H. Gibson. The ship itself was considered a total loss.
Eveline Carmichael
Tom Pearce
A contemporary newspaper account of the wreck encouraged a
romance between the two teenagers but they had no interest.
A cave at Loch Ard Gorge where the survivors sheltered
Loch Ard GorgeGlenample Homestead where Eveline and Tom were taken after the shipwreck
Cabinet photo of Thomas Pearce with his medal for bravery
As word spread of the wreck it was reported that some of the cargo had washed ashore. A local man by the name of Charles McGillivray found the crate holding the Minton peacock floating in the water and dragged it ashore within a couple of days of the ship's sinking with hopes of salvaging it. After a disagreement with customs officials over the find, McGillivray abandoned the peacock on the shore. Enter James Miller and Thomas Keys, a diver under his employ.
Miller was a member of a firm that had bought the salvage rights to the Loch Ard for £2,120 ten days after the disaster. After McGillivray abandoned the peacock on the shore, a storm on June 12 washed the peacock back into the sea. Miller and Keys had to save it from the ocean for a second time. Before they had a chance to bring the peacock inland, another storm on June 17 washed the peacock back into the sea. Now, the peacock had been lost and rescued three times from the ocean. When McGillivray first brought the peacock to shore he claimed it was intact except for a chip on the beak. After the third attempt to bring the peacock to land Keys claimed that the bird had the head broken off.
Loch Ard Minton peacock's head.
Salvage operations on the remainder of the cargo concluded quickly. £3,000 worth of the cargo that had been salvaged was swept back into the ocean after the June 17th storm. It would be another 90 years before the surviving cargo was salvaged. James Miller decided to keep the peacock for himself. The peacock head was reattached using a wooden dowel and animal glue. It remained with Miller until death at which time his daughter Florence chose to offer it for sale. She placed the peacock on display in an antiques store in Melbourne while searching for a buyer. She also loaned the peacock to the National Gallery in 1935 for their Victorian Historical Exhibition.
The peacock was eventually sold to dentist, artist and collector John Heath and his wife Eileen who kept it in their home, an old converted Presbyterian Church in Oakleigh which he called "The Studio." The peacock was perfect for display in their portico. A magazine article published after the conversion included photographs of the interior. The picture of the entrance had a caption that stated, “Some of her [Mrs. Heath’s] finest pottery was salvaged from the Loch Ard Wreck." As adults the Heath children recalled running around the peacock in the portico as they played, oblivious to its value.
John Samuel Robert Heath (1893-1970)
Newspaper clipping from September 1937 showing John Heath
in front of his converted church
The Minton piece was then offered for sale at an auction in May of 1941. The buyer was Frank Ridley-Lee who kept it in his home in Ivanhoe, a suburb of Melbourne. It remained with the Ridley-Lee family until June 1975 when it was offered for auction with a reserve of $4,500. Unable to reach its price, the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool raised money through public and private donations to purchase the bird for their museum in September 1975.
Today it is on display in the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village Museum with other objects rescued from the ship where it is known as the Loch Ard Peacock. It's ironic that as a bird the peacock symbolizes survival and resurrection, something this Minton majolica piece certainly speaks to as well.
The Loch Ard peacock on display at the Flagstaff Hill
Maritime Village Museum in Warrnambool
Pearce and Carmichael remained in Australia for six weeks after the wreck to recover from their trauma. Pearce was lauded as a hero for saving Carmichael and awarded a medal. Both became local celebrities. Newspapers encouraged a romance between the two teenagers but neither one expressed any interest in the other. Pearce was, after all, just a cabin boy and Carmichael was the daughter of a wealthy doctor and a descendant of England’s royal Plantagenet bloodline. The two went their separate ways. Both eventually returned to Great Britain and married others.
Eveline Carmichael on the right with her mother Rebecca and
sister Raby before their voyage. Rebecca and Raby’s bodies were the only two
from her family recovered after the wreck.
Tom married Edith Strasenburgh—the sister of one of his lost shipmates—in 1884 and had a successful career as a captain with the Royal Mail. He died in December of 1908. Eveline returned to Ireland and married Captain Thomas Townsend in 1884. As a wedding present she gave him a Georgian watch recovered from her mother Rebecca’s body after the shipwreck. She died in April 1934 after raising a family of three sons, all of who became captains. The watch is now also in the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village Museum.
An article on the Loch Ard Peacock appeared in Australian Home Beautiful in March 1, 1928. In it diver Thomas Keys described the recovery:
"One corner of the case crashed against the rocks, but it, was washed up intact, and being opened, was found to contain a life-sized peacock. Either in the crash against the rocks or in the opening of the case the head was broken off, but was easily cemented"
Article from Australian House Beautiful, March 1, 1928
The article mentions that a Minton majolica stork umbrella stand was also recovered intact. That piece as well as another Minton majolica crane stand recovered from the wreck can also be seen at the museum.
Minton majolica cane stands
Other items recovered included numerous fairings and pewter.
Fairings from the Loch Ard wreck
Fairings from the Loch Ard wreck
Pewter teapot fragment from the Loch Ard wreak
Pewter. tankards from the Loch Ard wreck
The wreck of the Lock Ard was declared a heritage site on the Victorian Heritage register and remains at the bottom of the ocean off Mutton Bird Island. It has become a tourist attraction for those divers interested in exploring it. It is considered to be among the worst ship wrecks ever to occur off the Australian coast, a coast known for its hundreds of ship wrecks.
Pewter tankard on the ocean floor
The remains of the Loch Ard today
With a value today of over a hundred thousand dollars, the Loch Ard peacock is believed to be the single most famous, and valuable, cargo salvaged from any ship wreck in all of Australia. The museum has it insured for $4,000,000.
Cemetary where the dead of the Loch Ard disaster are buried.
Only four bodies were recovered
Plaque at Loch Ard Gorge with the names of those
lost in the wreak
So ends the peculiar tale of the Minton majolica Loch Ard peacock. To watch a short video surveying recovered treasures from the Loch Ard shipwreck go
here.
This post has been updated since it was originally posted .
