6th May, 2021 12:00

From the Curious to the Extraordinary

 
  Lot 12
 

RELICS OF EXTINCT BIRDS: A FEATHER OF A FEMALE PASSENGER PIGEON, ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS

RELICS OF EXTINCT BIRDS: A FEATHER OF A FEMALE PASSENGER PIGEON, ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS

North America, Extinct since 1/9/1914, in a display box, of Natural History interest,

the feather 50mm long

Extinct since
1 September 1914. A migratory North American bird whose vast numbers darkened the skies. They were considered a sacred bird by the Wyandot people (or Huron), who believed that every 12 years, during the feast of the dead, the souls of their dead would migrate into the passenger pigeons and be eaten. But, with the arrival of Europeans who liked to eat them, kill them as pests and destroy their habitat, their days were numbered.

Provenance: from the collection of celebrated taxidermist Barry Williams.

Then Viktor Wynd’s Museum, London.

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History is a contemporary reinterpretation of a Pre-Enlightenment Wunderkabinett or Cabinet of Curiosities. It is the creation of artist and writer Viktor Wynd, who has just opened a Falmouth branch of his museum inside the National Maritime Museum. His most recent book 'The UnNatural History Museum' was published by Prestel in 2020.

Sold for £250

Includes Buyer's Premium


 

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