Though the myna bird had been considered a sacred bird in India for more than two millenia, and many species could talk, they were not especially popular in England, probably due to their duller plumage and smaller size. Few among the middling or lower classes would have been able to afford even one of these exotic birds, they were simply too expensive. With the advent of more frequent shipments, the cost of these exotic birds dropped enough to make them available not just to wealthy aristocrats, but also to the more affluent among the upper classes. The fashion for keeping popinjays continued in the eighteenth century, but keeping other exotic birds also became fashionable as traders in goods from the East brought back more and more species of exotic birds along with their cargoes of spices, teas, porcelains and textiles. The very best of the cages at this time were made by French and Dutch artisans, though that would gradually change in the next century. These cages were most often designed to complement the decor of the room in which they would be placed. The majority of these bird cages were made in fanciful baroque shapes with ornate embellishments which had no relation at all to the bird’s natural habitat. As had been the practice since the Middle Ages, the floors of many of these cages were trays on which was placed a section of grassy turf, apparently to provide some small bit of the natural world to the birds in their cages. Fine furniture woods, brass, and even sometimes, gold and silver, were used in the making of bird cages, while the interiors were fitted with porcelain, horn or silver bowls and/or bottles for food and water. Unlike the wrought iron bird cages of the Middle Ages, bird cages in the seventeenth century were made of a much wider range of materials. But having the bird was only part of the package, to show off their prize parrot to its best advantage, it must be displayed in a cage which would do justice to such a valuable creature. Thus, only the very wealthy could afford to own a popinjay, which became a status symbol at that time. These large, colorful, often talkative birds were imported from the tropics, were difficult to obtain and therefore, were very expensive. The most popular exotic bird in seventeenth-century England was the popinjay, known to us today as the parrot. The keeping of exotic birds gradually fell out of fashion over the course of the next few centuries, but it was revived in the seventeenth century. Finer wire mesh was placed inside the wrought iron framework to contain smaller birds. Most of these cages were made with a sturdy wrought iron frame in Gothic architectural designs similar to the designs which were used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and palaces. The residences our Regency ancestors provided for their feathered friends …Īs early as the Middle Ages, it was the fashion among wealthy aristocrats to keep exotic birds which were being imported into Europe from around the known world. And for the newly rich, there were many elegant bird cages available which were made during the years of the Prince Regent’s tenure. Quite a few of them remained in the families of their original owners for many generations, so they might still have been in use during the Regency. The majority of those cages were extremely elaborate and ornate architectural confections. Well over a century before the Regency began, both the exotic birds and their cages had become a feature of interior decor for a number of bird aficionados of the upper classes. Some birds were kept for veneration or to participate in various rituals, while many more were kept as status symbols or simply as pets. Birds have been kept by humans since ancient times and, during the course of all those years, a wide array of structures have been constructed to house them.
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