25 May 2024

World's most expensive feather

A single feather of the now extinct New Zealand huia bird has set a world record after being sold for NZD$46,521.50 ($28,417, £22,409) at an auction.  The feather, initially expected to fetch up to $3,000, broke the previous record which was for a feather of the same species by 450%, the Webb's Auction House said.

The huia bird was sacred to the Māori people. Their feathers were often worn as headpieces by chiefs and their families and also gifted or traded. Its last confirmed sighting was in 1907, but unconfirmed sightings were reported for twenty to thirty years after that, according to the Museum of New Zealand.

The feather is registered as a taonga tūturu under a system to protect Maori made objects. Only collectors who had license in the system were allowed to purchase it, and it can not leave the country without permission from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

In the past, the huia feathers were a status mark to Māori people. Already a rare bird before the arrival of Europeans, the species became a target for collectors and fashion merchants after it gained popularity among those who came to New Zealand, which led to its extinction, according to the Museum of New Zealand. 

Some additional details at the BBC.  The Museum of New Zealand adds this info:
The huia was not a strong flier – like the kōkako, it was more of a flighty bounder as it worked its way through the layers of the forest.  These forest dwelling species have all been very sensitive to the effects that the arrival of humans and other mammals has brought to their environment. 

The decline in numbers would have started from the first Māori settlers, with their hunting, and predation by the animals they brought – kiore, the Polynesian rat, and kurī, the dog. Europeans brought new hunting animals, and also stripped the land [North Island] of large areas of forest.

5 comments:


  1. An interesting addition to this sad story. We know what the huia bird sounded like. In 1947, an old Maori man was about to mimic his call having heard it in his youth, and there is a recording. https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/explore-stories/stories/sound/te-karanga-a-te-huia-the-call-of-the-huia/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting, the illustration at that link shows orange cheeks and white tip tail feathers but the rest is very very black. The feather auctioned is white tipped so a tail feather but far from black. Could be the feathers age, could be the illustration is too dramatic, but there's definitely a mismatch.
    xoxoxoBruce

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This illustration -

      https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/534065

      - appears to be deep brownish rather than absolute black.

      Delete
    2. more info and detailed photos:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEGTizlyDmI 0:42 Feather from extinct New Zealand huia auctioned for record-breaking figure

      https://www.webbs.co.nz/articles-and-videos/rare-huia-feather-up-for-auction-webbs-extinct-new-zealand-native-bird Rare Huia Feather Up For Auction

      https://auctions.webbs.co.nz/m/lot-details/index/catalog/646/lot/214445/A-Framed-Huia-Feather-Aotearoa Lot 18 of : A Framed Huia Feather, Aotearoa

      Delete