Turtle doves on a branch

Country: Spain

Manufactory: Lladro

Date of establishment: 1973

Sculptor: Antonio Ballester

Size (cm): 33*41

Limited Series

Porcelain Story

Do you know how the idea of creating the Guinness Book of Records came about? I am not asking this by chance. For just on this day, August 27, 1955, the 198-page edition of the very first edition of the book saw the light in the UK. And this is what preceded this significant event.

While hunting wild birds, Sir Hugh Beaver, the owner of the large Irish brewery Guinness, could not manage to shoot at least one golden plover flying quickly in front of him. In his hearts, he declared that this bird is probably the fastest bird in England. One of the participants of the hunting dressage immediately objected to him: no way, they say, dear sir, the grouse is considered to be the fastest bird in our country. There was no way to find out which of the participants in the dispute was right, since it turned out that until then there were simply no reference books in which all the “most-most” would be recorded. And, by the way, for the same reason, numerous bets traditionally concluded in old English pubs did not end with anything.

And that's when Sir Hugh Beaver decided to fill the niche that existed until that time in the book market. And he instructed the twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter, who led one of the London news agencies, to create a directory that would contain "everything about everything." And they, it must be admitted, successfully coped with the task. On August 27, 1955, the first edition of the new commercial project was released in London, which by Christmas topped the list of the most popular books in the UK. Published the following year in the United States with a circulation of 70,000 copies, the book was sold almost instantly.

By the way, experts have found that in terms of the scale of circulation published in more than a hundred countries of the world, the Guinness Book of Records is second only to the Bible and the Koran. Every year, over 80 million copies of the reference book are published and successfully sold in the world, which has become extremely popular.

The rare bird composition presented to your attention continues the acquaintance with the works of the famous Spanish master Antonio Ballester, who created a whole series of very naturalistic birds in a complex, but unusually lively gres technique. This product is amazing, like everything that was created by the hands of this sculptor.