# Featherwork

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{{Short description|Use of feathers in traditional art}}
[[Image:Ethnologisches Museum Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 008.jpg|thumb|A Hawaiian ''[‘ahu‘ula](/source/%E2%80%98ahu%E2%80%98ula)'' (feathered cape).]]
[[Image:Federschild-Sonne-1rhb-cr-b.jpg|thumb|Aztec feather shield 'meander and sun" (around 1520, [Landesmuseum Württemberg](/source/Landesmuseum_W%C3%BCrttemberg))]]
'''Featherwork''' is the working of [feather](/source/feather)s into a work of art or [cultural artifact](/source/cultural_artifact). Practiced in many parts of the world, this was especially elaborate among the peoples of [Oceania](/source/Oceania) and the [Americas](/source/Americas), such as the [Inca](/source/Inca)s and [Aztec](/source/Aztec)s.

Though some bird populations may have been put under pressure by [plume hunting](/source/plume_hunting) even before Western contact, the late 19th century trade in feathers, especially for ladies' hats in Western countries, drove many species to the brink of extinction; some did not survive at all. 

==Pacific== 
[Feathered cloak](/source/Feathered_cloak)s and headdresses include the ''[ʻahuʻula](/source/%CA%BBahu%CA%BBula)'' capes and ''[mahiole](/source/mahiole)'' helmets were worn by [Hawaiian royalty](/source/ali'i);<ref>Thomas</ref> many are now on display at the [Bishop Museum](/source/Bishop_Museum) on [Honolulu](/source/Honolulu), including the largest survival, [Nāhiʻenaʻena's Pāʻū](/source/N%C4%81hi%CA%BBena%CA%BBena's_P%C4%81%CA%BB%C5%AB), a princess's cloak, and [Liloa's Kāʻei](/source/Liloa's_K%C4%81%CA%BBei), a sash. [Kāhili](/source/K%C4%81hili) are a type of feathered standard, another symbol of royalty.  The introduction of foreign species, overhunting, and environment changes drove birds with desirable feathers, such as the [‘ō‘ō](/source/Hawai%CA%BBi_%CA%BB%C5%8D%CA%BB%C5%8D) and [mamo](/source/Hawai'i_mamo), to extinction, although the [ʻiʻiwi](/source/%CA%BBi%CA%BBiwi) managed to survive despite its popularity.

The [Maori](/source/M%C4%81ori_people) of New Zealand used featherwork to construct cloaks for clothing and to decorate kete (bags) and weapons.

==Americas==
[[File:Moctezuma's feather headdress, ca. 1515, Mexico; Weltmuseum, Vienna (3).jpg|thumb|[Montezuma's headdress](/source/Montezuma's_headdress), now in [Vienna](/source/Vienna)]]
[Mexican feather work](/source/Mexican_feather_work) was a Pre-Columbian art form which was continued after the [Conquest of the Aztec Empire](/source/Conquest_of_the_Aztec_Empire), originally organized by the Spanish missionaries into a luxury export trade, sending objects back to Europe. Immediately after the conquest existing objects such as [Montezuma's headdress](/source/Montezuma's_headdress), now in [Vienna](/source/Vienna), were admired in the courts of Europe.<ref>Castello Yturbide, throughout</ref>

The [Tupinambá cape](/source/Tupinamb%C3%A1_cape) was a type made in the Amazon forests, of which the best preserved of the dozen or so survivals is now in [Brussels](/source/Brussels), Belgium.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Stunning and Sacred Cape, The Huntington |url=https://huntington.org/verso/stunning-and-sacred-cape |access-date=24 May 2023 |website=huntington.org |language=en}}</ref>  The feathered [war bonnet](/source/war_bonnet) of North American [Plains Indians](/source/Plains_Indians) has long been iconic.  The [Cherokee people](/source/Cherokee_people) of Southeastern Northern America used swan or turkey feathers to make capes. 
[[File:Mahiole (feathered helmet).jpg|thumb|Hawaiian [mahiole](/source/mahiole) helmet collected by [Robert Gray](/source/Robert_Gray_(sea_captain)) in 1789]]

Although featherwork is primarily used for clothing, headdresses, ceremonial [shield](/source/shield)s, and [tapestries](/source/tapestry), the [Pomo people](/source/Pomo_people)s of California are famous for the minute featherwork of their grass baskets, including the [fully feathered basket](/source/fully_feathered_basket) style,<ref>King</ref> many of which are on display at the [National Museum of the American Indian](/source/National_Museum_of_the_American_Indian) in Washington.

==Europe==
The medieval European style called [feather tights](/source/feather_tights) was more usually made with cloth or leather flaps simulating feathers in the costumes of angels (and devils) in [liturgical drama](/source/liturgical_drama)s, pageants and other displays. The feather elements were sewn onto body suits.

==See also==
*[Coyotlinahual](/source/Coyotlinahual), Aztec patron god of featherworkers
*''[The Feather Book of Dionisio Minaggio](/source/The_Feather_Book_of_Dionisio_Minaggio)'', a 17th-century Italian book of images made entirely from bird feathers

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book  |first= Teresa|last= Castello Yturbide |title= The Art of Featherwork in Mexico |publisher= Fomento Cultural Banamex |location= Mexico City |year=1993 |isbn=968-7009-37-3 }}
* {{cite journal |last=King |first=J. C. H. |year=1999 |title=Pomo Indian Basket Weavers. Their Baskets and the Art Market |journal=American Anthropologist |type=Exhibit review |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=619–627 |doi=10.1525/aa.1999.101.3.619 |jstor=683856}}
* {{cite book|last=Thomas |first=Sophie |author-link=<!--Sophie Thomas--> |chapter=Chapter 3 Feather Cloaks and English Collectors: Cook's Voyages and the Objects of the Museum |editor1-last=Baird |editor1-first=Ileana |editor1-link=<!--Ileana Baird--> |editor2-last=Ionescu |editor2-first=Christina |editor2-link=<!--Christina Ionescu--> |title=Eighteenth-Century Thing Theory in a Global Context: From Consumerism to Celebrity Culture |place= |publisher=Routledge |date=2016 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKAWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |pages=69–88 |isbn=<!--1317145453, -->9781317145455}}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070425210713/http://www.k12.hi.us/~jyasui/wqfeatherwork.htm Living the Ancient Hawaiian Way]

Category:Featherwork
Category:Birds in art

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Featherwork](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherwork) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherwork?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.