World’s most expensive feather sold for RM134k at New Zealand auction

1 month ago

How much would you be willing to fork out for an extinct bird feather?

$46,521 NZD (RM134,482.91) was how much a person paid for this extinct bird feather.

This rare and highly prized feather comes from the extinct New Zealand huia bird and has made it the world’s most expensive feather ever sold at auction. The feather weighs roughly at 9g.

The feather was initially expected to fetch up to US$3,000 (RM14,084.25).

The previous record sale was another huia feather that sold in 2010 for US$8,400 (RM39,435.90).

Leah Morris, Head of Decorative Arts at Webb’s Auction House said that the feather was “in wonderful condition” and had no insect damage, as reported by BBC.

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Due to confidentiality agreements, the vendor and buyer were said to be both registered collectors and New Zealand-based.

The huia bird feather not only held cultural significance in New Zealand in the early times but it was also used for trading.

In fact, the wearing of its skin or feathers was reserved for people of high status.

Huia feathers are highly prized, amongst the most expensive feathers in the world.

According to the Museum of New Zealand, the last confirmed sighting of a huia in the wild was in 1907, although unconfirmed sightings were reported for twenty to thirty years after that.