The 2004 House Of Crests Stable Of Stars -Consort Study! Part Two

THE 2004 STABLE OF STARS

CONSORT STUDY! PART TWO

This is the second page of a two-part set of pages describing differences in consort heads. The consorts shown on this page illustrate the heads needed, if the breeder wishes to produce consorts that would catch the eye of some of the judges of today on the show bench. All photos shown are of Glosters produced in The House for that exact purpose!

Seems that there are some judges who's preferences lean toward consorts over coronas. In order for a breeder to cover all bases in their quest for a victory with Glosters under certain judges, sometimes it is best to produce some of the consorts that these judges favor! Having seen it happen to myself at many shows and even today, it continues to amaze me when a judge with all things being equal, will award the Best Gloster in Show Award to a consort over a corona! There will always be those judges and breeders who are looking for that consort which most closely resembles a miniature, non-colorfed Norwich!

The photos shown on this page will detail the type of head of a consort that would be considered a "Consort-Producing-Consort."

Of course feather is an important factor in the production of these broad-headed consorts as it is in all consorts and coronas. Continued buff-to-buff pairings using the bulkiest-feathered consorts can assure one of quick victories with consorts such as these on some show benches. Sadly though, these consorts are totally worthless for the production of a sweet corona such as you may have seen on the previous page and all the other pages of this website!!

Pairing any of these consorts to the coronas shown on this site would render offspring with crests that would resemble a dry, flat pancake sitting on the head!! Definitely NOT what I personally would prefer my Glosters to look like!!

Please click on the thumbnails to enlarge the image. When finished reviewing it, use the left arrow icon on the toolbar to return to this page.

As you study each image, allow the curser to hover over the photo so that a small descriptive title of the image can appear. Under each series of photos, an attempt will be made to describe further the length and type of feather in the grouping.

The 7 various positions of the consort in the row above will give you an idea of what a very broad-headed consort would look like. Pay particular attention to the washed-out look of the feathers in this consort and also on the consort in the row below. Notice also that in both consorts, the feather is rather coarse.

The consort in the row above is another buff with a wide head. The photos were taken less than two weeks ago. Notice the poor feather quality in the center photo showing the back of the head. This canary has completed its molt in October but still looks like its feathers have not finished off. This is an example of what is known as a hard-feathered buff. The coarseness in this feather is also conducive to its ability to produce some very rough-feathered offspring if buff-to-buff pairings were allowed to continue.

Any coronas that may be produced by using either of these two consorts would be mediocre at best.

The buff consort above though a bit more finished is rather flat-headed with no definite rise on top.

Now a few shots of some of my Norwich so that you may compare them to the consort heads above! As you can see, not too far off the mark in head structure.

In closing, I'd like to offer the following additional comments as relates to consorts and coronas.

According to some early books, when A. W. Smith awarded Mrs. Rogerson of Cheltenham, England, for her two entries at the Crystal Palace National in 1925, First and Second Prize, he called this new breed for lack of a better term, Miniature Crests. It was later as the breed was being worked on by crossing crested Roller canaries with very small Borders and the fact that the home county in which Mrs. Rogerson lived, the word Gloucester, Gloucestershire was reduced to Gloster by A. W. Smith. And thus the name Gloster was bestowed upon this new breed.

I believe that the consort or rather, the ideal consort was one that would be able to assist in the production of what was considered the original quest when developing the breed so many years ago; to produce a beautiful crest or corona on a diminutive, cobby canary.

If that be the case, then the definition from one dictionary or rather The Loyal Guild of St. Erasmus An Tir Glossary of Nautical Terms which defines the word CONSORT as any companion vessel sailing with a pirate ship or fleet, certainly lends credence to my belief.

In other words, in my opinion, the ideal consort is one that is used to produce the crowning glory of what the Gloster is, the corona.

Having written several articles in the past where I discuss consorts for show and consorts for the production of coronas, I must then continue to say that the ones shown on this page would certainly be for show.

What we may end up seeing if more and more of these bulky, wide-headed consorts continue to win at major shows over equally as good corona Glosters is maybe a new breed; the Gloster Plainhead! Something to ponder!

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