Quill

Parakeet feather quill tip

Description

The hard, hollow shaft of a Feather that attaches into the skin of the bird. The quill portion of the feather does not have any lateral branches. Quills from ducks, geese, eagles, swans, and other large birds have been used as tips for pens and as ferrules for artists' brushes. The thickened spines of porcupines or hedgehogs are also called quills.

Synonyms and Related Terms

calamus; quill pen; slagpen (Ned.)

Resources and Citations

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• A Glossary of Paper Conservation Terms, Margaret Ellis (ed.), Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York City, 1998

• Zora Sweet Pinney, 'A Handle on the Terms used for Artists' Brushes', unpublished glossary, 1999

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quill (Accessed Nov. 9, 2005)

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998