The Care of Feathers
Source: The Bishop Museum Art Conservation Handout
The delicacy, resiliency, and exquisite beauty of feathers have captivated people for centuries. Almost every culture has used feathers in some manner to enhance personal adornments, sacred or ritual objects, and decorative arts. Feathers also have many functional uses, down comforters and quill pens come readily to mind. Because of the scope of feather work, this article will not go into the care of the varied types of artifacts. Rather, it will discuss the feathers themselves to allow better understanding of their structure, sensitivity to the environment, and need for care.
