Pigeon Service by Christien Meindertsma | Fabric Pigeons

About Pigeon Service

Pigeon Service is a series of handmade fabric pigeons made from leftover furniture fabric. Under its left wing is a pocket for the note supplied with it: a carrier pigeon in textile, for a secret or personal message. Pigeon Service is a design by Christien Meindertsma from the Offcuts collection for Kuperus & Gardenier.

Every pigeon is unique

Furniture maker Gelderland is left with remnants of high-quality woollen upholstery fabric. Each pigeon is hand-sewn from those remnants and filled with flaxseed, which gives it its weight and its steady stance. No two pigeons are alike: one plain green, the next a melange of cobalt and dark blue. That is why we photograph every pigeon separately. The photos on a product page show that one bird, so you see exactly which pigeon you are getting.

Sold out? Get notified

Pigeons that have sold stay on this page. Click one and sign up under Sold out - notify me. As soon as a new pigeon takes that spot, you will hear from us. The pigeons arrive in small batches, always in new colours and patterns.

Made from the same fabric

The smaller remnants become the Bird t., the fabric sparrow from the same series. At 16 cm it is the pigeon's little sister.

Details

• Brand: Kuperus & Gardenier
• Design: Christien Meindertsma
• Material: offcuts from furniture maker Gelderland
• Filling: flaxseed
• Dimensions: L 30 | W 20 | H 10 cm
• Weight: 730 grams
• Supplied with: writing paper for a secret message
• Made in: the Netherlands

Pigeon Service

"Pigeon Service" from 2015 is part of a permanent installation at Texture, the museum of flax and linen in Kortrijk. During the First World War the German occupiers held thousands of pigeons captive there, suspected of carrying military information. Christien Meindertsma brought both stories together in a pigeon made of linen. Volunteers at the museum made more than three hundred of them, from a wide range of weaves, displayed throughout the building.

About Christien Meindertsma

Christien Meindertsma studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven and explores in her work where materials come from. Her work is held in the collections of MoMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Vitra Design Museum. Read more about her work on the page of Kuperus & Gardenier.