“The hand-carved cedar frame you are now holding, and the artistic and beautiful feathercrafted bird within it, are the result of patient and skillful hand work, traditional from our ancestors. Together, they are a symbol of a million bird songs that anciently haunted our great forests, and still hold something of that mysterious beauty.” — Feathercraft label–

In other words, that plaque you just picked up at a garage sale, featuring a bird pictorial made entirely of feathers, isn’t just any old souvenir. During the 1940s and ‘50s, these exquisitely detailed renderings of colorful exotic birds were prized keepsakes of a trip south of the border. Although the warblers depicted existed, for the most part, only in their creators’ imaginations, only a bird-brain would quibble. Realistic or not, feathercraft bird plaques were the 20th-century descendants of a time-honored tradition:

“The art of feathercraft is very ancient, originating years before the 1521 Spanish conquest of Mexico. Birds have a prominent place in Aztec mythology and Mexican history. The Tarascos, a noble race, used hummingbird feathers in the robes and crowns of their kings. And Cortés, the Spanish conqueror, speaks many a great thing of the feathered jewels of the Aztecs.”

Of course, the feathered jewels Cortés was talking about were quite a bit different from the framed bird plaques snapped up by travelers centuries later. “Plumaria,” the technical term for featherwork, was an Aztec craft used for both sacred and secular purposes. Among the many items adorned with feathers: cloaks, banners, shields, and headdresses.

Feathercraft of centuries past utilized the feathers from a resplendent aviary of tropical birds—the Central American quetzal, the hummingbird, macaw, toucan, and parrot (just for starters). Now you may be saying to yourself, “Wait a minute. I am not about to feather my nest with plaques made from the feathers of endangered birds, no matter how pretty they look!”

Fortunately for you, and most especially for the parrots and their fine feathered friends, the tradition of using feathers from rare birds for feathercraft died out long ago, thus saving the birds themselves from a similar fate. The winged wonders on feathercraft plaques of the 20th century are constructed entirely of chicken feathers.

Donald-Brian Johnson is the co-author of numerous Schiffer books on design and collectibles, including “Postwar Pop,” a collection of his columns. Please address inquiries to: donaldbrian@msn.com