After the ostrich feathers complete there journey from Cape Town, South Africa, bales of cruelly plucked feathers arrive by boat to London, the Worlds feather market. Still with flesh torn and bleeding tips, feathers were sorted in classes and grades varying in length and quality, with the long and full ones fetching the highest prices. Photograph showing men washing the feathers in a rotary bath, before selling at auction to buyers from Paris, Vienna and America. Date: 1907