Object Narratives:
Plumage and Pillage - The Millinery Fashion Trade

"Nothing is so naked as a bonnet without a feather."

Join milliner Wayne Wichern for a conversation about the power and authority of bird plumage.

From the exotic Greater Birds of Paradise of the rain forests of Papua, New Guinea to the humble barnyard cockerel, feathers capture our full attention and we often gasp in admiration of their elegance. It was thought, as feathers do for the bird, they do for the woman.

In the 1890s, an estimated five million birds were harvested annually for the fashion market. Plumes, wings, and even entire birds decorated the hats, hair, and dresses of fashionable women. Many species were harvested to extinction and many others were driven to the brink before grassroot social women's clubs and legislation curbed the trends.

This program will feature feather hats from the Henry's collection and highlight feather garments in the common S E N S E.

Object Narratives is a four-part series that introduces visitors to the historical and cultural contexts of objects included in Ann Hamilton: the common S E N S E. Hear from different presenters at each session and explore the expanded narratives around the objects that have informed Hamilton's exhibition from the collections of the Henry, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.