Few natural objects have carried as much meaning as the feather. The peacock, with its impossible tail, has stood for beauty and pride across countless cultures; ostrich plumes crowned the headdresses of royal courts; the fan of feathers became one of the defining flourishes of Art Deco glamour. To wear or display a feather has almost always been to signal something, status, artistry, a certain theatrical flair.
What a feather design offers that few motifs can is movement and light. Peafowl, at the top of this page, from Essentia by Coordonné, layers peacock plumage until the eyes of the tail repeat right across the wall, close enough to show the fine barbs. A good feather design seems to shimmer and shift, catching the eye the way real plumage does.
"The feather has signalled glamour and status for as long as anyone can remember."
The Oldest Symbol of Glamour
All three of those traditions are still in print. Orlena in Putty and Silver, from the Purity Edit by Harlequin, is the peacock at its most generous: an oversized feather picked out with metallic and beaded highlights. Descartes in Metallic Emerald, from Enchanted by Galerie, overlaps its peacock eyes into a dense, jewelled green.
Then there is the bird itself. Belvedere in Midnight, from Volume One by Laura Ashley, perches whole peacocks on branches in a pale chinoiserie print, trains trailing behind them. And Operetta in Slate, from Palmetto, leaves the peacock aside for the ostrich plume, drawn soft and enormous over a metallic textured background.
Orlena, Putty & Silver by Harlequin
Descartes, Metallic Emerald by Galerie
Belvedere, Midnight by Laura Ashley
Operetta, Slate by Harlequin
"A feather design shimmers and shifts, catching the light the way real plumage does."
Soft Drama
The feather occupies a lovely middle ground. It has real drama, that iridescent, eye-catching quality, yet it is soft and organic rather than hard-edged, which makes it glamorous without being cold. Revue in Noir Fusain, from Années Folles by Casadeco, is the evening end of it, iridescent plumes on matt black, and above white panelling it looks like a set. Adornado, from The Wallpaper Collection by Matthew Williamson, floats shimmering feathers across a deep navy so they seem to drift when the paper is hung.
Others take the same motif somewhere calmer. Absolutely Chic, from Absolutely Chic by A S Creation, draws the peacock feather in outline and repeats it all over in taupe and blue, which is the look at its most liveable. Icarus in Copper, from Indienne by Zoffany, is drawn from feather detail and named for the myth of the wings, though at a distance it reads as a dense copper shimmer rather than a feather you could name.
Revue, Noir Fusain by Casadeco
Adornado by Matthew Williamson
Absolutely Chic, Taupe & Blue by A S Creation
Icarus, Copper by Zoffany
How and Where to Use It
Feather designs love a room with a hint of glamour. A rich, metallic or jewel-toned feather brings evening drama to a dining room, a bedroom or a cloakroom, especially by lamplight; a softer, more painterly feather makes an elegant, textural backdrop that adds movement without shouting. Peacock designs in particular bring a wonderful, opulent flourish to a hallway or a statement wall.
And the style has a genuinely quiet end. Aslan in Neutral, from Classics by York Wallcoverings, works its plumes in fine line and masses them into a drift that reads more like moving water than plumage, which is the feather behaving almost as a texture.
Aslan, Neutral by York Wallcoverings
Pair a feather design with a little velvet, brass or glass, and keep the surroundings simple so the shimmer can do its work. Look to Harlequin, Osborne & Little and Clarke & Clarke for feather designs from the painterly to the peacock, and order a sample first, since the sheen and iridescence that make these papers special are exactly what a screen tends to flatten.
A single feather has always been able to lift an outfit, or a room. On the wall, it lends a space that most desirable of qualities: a little quiet glamour.
Ready for a Little Plumage?
Browse the full Feathers collection, or look sideways into Animal & Insects and Art Deco.
