English to Portuguese Art/Literary Folklore

Trecho de um livro:

They had a pigeon who perched above a doorway lovingly nurturing a china egg, a permanent symbol of futile optimism.

Seria um ovo de porcelana chinesa?

Achei também uma explicação do significado de china egg na Internet, parece fazer parte de uma expressão idiomática:

"I heard about China Eggs from an Englishman about thirty years ago so I don't remember all the details. Here's the gist of it: If a hen is not laying, the farmer puts a ceramic imitation egg under the hen. She instinctivly sits on it as a normal egg. This somehow induces her to start laying normally again. It has crept into usage as a metaphor for waiting around for something that will never happen." - http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_'sitting_on_a_china_egg'_...