The complex world of avian plumage: developing a technical and condition database for California Native American featherwork Ellen Pearlstein, Associate Professor, Information Studies and UCLA/Getty Program in the Conservation of Ethnographic and Archaeological Materials (USA) Molly Gleeson, Research Associate, UCLA/Getty Program in Conservation of Ethnographic and Archaeological Materials (USA) 1 Pomo feathered basket Oakland Museum H16.4179 Achumawi war cap Field Museum 58942 Hupa Brush Dance headdress California State Indian Museum S1194.52 2 3 Phoebe A. Hearst Museum, University of California, Berkeley 4 5 1. a technically accepted vocabulary for feather structures 2. descriptive language about locations of color within the feather useful to ornithologists for species identification 3. standardized terminology about the ways feathers are culturally modified (i.e. split, blunt cut, serrated). 4. condition descriptions that draw on ornithological research about lifecycle damage and distinguish these from collections conditions 6 http://www.fernbank.edu/Birding/feathers.htm http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/feather_evolution.htm 7 8 http://www.lab.fws.gov/fa/index.php Unpatterned Two-tone Mottled Barred Spotted Colorful iridescence Dark tip Pale tip 9 http://www.lab.fws.gov/fa/index.php 10 Dorsal vs. ventral Field Museum, Chicago, Hupa dance headdress, 1900.0692.060071 11 Bird image courtesy http://photo.net; Feathers courtesy Feather Atlas http://www.lab.fws.gov/fa/index.php Phoebe A. Hearst Museum, Hupa Brush Dance headdress, I-825 12 Maidu and Pomo dancers wearing Red-shafted flicker feather headbands, wild turkey 13aprons, Big Time festival, Jul 08, Point Reyes National Seashore, California http://www.lab.fws.gov/pdfs/Trail.2003c.pdf 14 Phoebe A Hearst Museum, Hupa, Karok or Yurok headdress, 1-2343 15 Phoebe A. Hearst Museum, Owl feathered dance ornament, 16 Diegueno, Mesa Grande 1-12963 Techniques for attaching feathers: Tied: fastened with a string, cord, thread, etc. by knotting around the feather Adhered: attached with an adhesive Couched: vane or shaft secured with multiple visible stitches Folded: Feather calamus or shaft folded around other element(s) Inserted: captured in a gap or between woven, coiled or netted elements, contributing to surface but not the structure Feather Wrapped: feathers used for wrapping around another element Feather Woven: Feather used as an element in twining or coiling which contributes to structure 17 Folded and wrapped Folded and inserted Tied Adhered Folded and inserted Wrapped Sewn Wrapped Wrapped 18 Torrecilla, Cátalogo de Arte Plumerio Amazónico Del Museo de América Folded and wrapped Feather quill wrapped around plant cordage, SW USA prehistoric Webster, L. 2003 Textiles and Basketry, 19 Woods Canyon Project. Fig. 44 Techniques for working with feathers: •Folded: part of feather bent over onto itself, unrelated to attachment •Cut: reduced or trimmed with a sharp instrument •Blunt cut: trimmed to a straight edge •Serrated: vane cut or altered to create zig-zag •Shaft notched •Curled: formed into a curved shape •Split: divided or separated from end to end into distinct parts •Stripped: parts of feather removed (one or both of the vanes separated from the rachis) •Shaft extension: feather shaft wrapped with or adhered to another element, such as thread • or secondary feathers •Spliced: two or more feathers combined to make one feather 20 21 Different forms of insect damage on feathers 22 23 Scarlet macaw feathers at Chaco Canyon visitor center, New Mexico, US Feathered cape in the Bernice Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI, US 24 25 Thank you! The UCLA/GCI Feather Project team members: Contributors: Bradley Marshall Susan Billy Clint McKay Meyo Marrufo Armando Williams Frank LaPena Dr. Sherrie Smith-Ferri Brian Bibby Dr. Ira Jacknis Molly Gleeson Renée Riedler Jim Druzik Christel Pesme Collections: American Museum of Natural History Brooklyn Museum SW Museum of the American Indian San Diego Museum of Man Field Museum Grace Hudson Museum Oakland Museum Phoebe Hearst Museum CA State Indian Museum Yosemite Museum Point Reyes National Seashore Museum Dr. Pepper Trail, US Fish and wildlife Forensics Lab Cindy Lee Scott, UCLA/Getty Conservation Program Jessica Chuang, Carnegie Mellon University 26