The Loch Ard Peacock was modelled by the renowned French animalier Paul Comolera as a conservatory ornament and was made between 1873 and 1878 by the celebrated English pottery company Minton & Co., in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It was shipped to Australia in 1878 aboard the iron clipper 'Loch Ard' and was one of the key exhibits destined for the 1880-1881, Melbourne International Exhibition which was held to celebrate the opening of the Melbourne Exhibition Building.The 'Loch Ard' was shipwrecked along the South West Coast of Victoria near Warrnambool on the night of the 31st of May 1878. Two days after the shipwreck a wooden packing crate which contained the Minton peacock (later named the Loch Ard Peacock after the ship) was washed onto the beach of the gorge (now known as Loch Ard Gorge). It was found by Mr James Miller, one of a syndicate that had purchased the rights to the wreck in 1878. The Peacock stayed in the ownership of the Miller family until 1943 when it was purchased by Mr Frank Ridley-Lee. In 1975, the Loch Ard Peacock was purchased by Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool and remains the centrepiece of the display on the history of the Shipwreck Coast of Western Victoria.