King Penguin chicks, with their soft, downy brown coats, were once so unfamiliar to early explorers that they were mistaken for an entirely different species. In this carefully observed scene, adult penguins emerge in single file from the stark, ice-clad peaks, and the King Penguin’s striking colour contrasts reveal themselves vividly: cheeks touched with warm, rich orange and backs shaded in a dusk-grey that deepens the effect, diverging from the usual black.
Designer Vicky Lovatt at Moorcroft Pottery has captured these distinctive details with meticulous precision in her 8-inch Kings of Antarctica vase, bringing the Antarctic wilderness into sharp, living focus. Unlike the Emperor Penguins depicted in earlier Moorcroft pieces, these Kings exhibit ear patches of soft, buttery yellow rather than deep orange.
In the distance, a line of these poised figures meanders across the snowy tundra, moving forward with a quiet and steady resolve, as if drawn together by an unspoken rhythm that courses through the frozen expanse.
Kings of Antartica vase comes in a numbered edition.
