A FEATHER OF THE EXTINCT FEMALE PASSENGER PIGEON, ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIUS
North America, Extinct since 1/9/1914, in a labelled display box, of Natural History interest,

the feather 33mm 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:

Viktor Wynd.

Acquired by Wynd from the collection of celebrated taxidermist Barry Williams in 2013, from a specimen that Williams was working on. A copy of the original certificate of authenticity will be supplied, together with a signed certificate by Viktor Wynd.

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.