Federkopfschmuck#

Federkopfschmuck, (Aztec feathered headgear): One of the most valuable exhibits of the Austrian Ethnological Museum (Museum fuer Voelkerkunde) in Vienna, consists of more than 450 long tail of the quetzal and smaller feathers of cotinga, piaya, platalea and kingfishers. First documented around 1575 as part of the collection of Count Ulrich von Montfort, it was acquired by Archduke Ferdinand II about 1590 for his collection at Amras Castle, from where it was removed to the Museum of Natural History, Vienna, and, in 1928, to the Ethnological Museum. Often erroneously referred to as the feathered crown of Moctezuma (Montezuma), the headgear was actually part of the ritual dress of a priest symbolising his transformation into a god. Even though dozens of similar objects were brought to Europe in the course of the 16th century, the only one still extant is the one at the Vienna Ethnological Museum.