Medium: Felt and taxidermic bird of paradise

Date: c. 1955

Country: USA

Credit: Gift of Mrs. Otto Grun

Adorned with a bird-of-paradise, this woman’s hat is an example of how feathers used by male birds in sexual display have been appropriated by fashion to emphasize female allure. Birds-of-paradise, which include some of nature’s most flamboyant avian species, were described by naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace as “the most beautiful of the feathered inhabitants of this earth.” Today, birds-of-paradise are protected against the harvesting of feathers.

Object Number: 77.146.2