By Maureen Timm

It is difficult to establish exactly when and where Man first kept birds in cages purely as a pastime. We do know that some of the ancient Asian civilizations kept birds as pets instead of for food or religious reasons. Alexander the Great is credited with bringing back to Greece the Indian Ring-necked Parakeet.

Many countries have a range of native song birds that can be acclimatized to cage life. Europe, for example, has the Goldfinch, Bullfinch and Linnet; the Middle East has its Bulbuis India has the Shama, and America has its Cardinals. The Canary, however, in spite of this competition from birds of richer color or greater song volume is still the most widely kept pet singing bird.
The early cages for housing singing birds were often made of wicker and wooden bars, and frequently far too small for the comfort of their inmates. In the 19th century various metal wires were used in cage construction, the designs becoming more elaborate.

The earliest birdcages most likely to be found will probably be 17th century Dutch, designed for the canaries or singing finches then popular. Baroque in style, many of these cages were made of precious materials such as ebony or ivory. Tiered shapes on a circular base, becoming narrower toward the top, are typical of this period, although some are bell-shaped. Small finials in turned ivory are common and blown glass is a favorite material for the food and water containers.

Another 17th century variety sought out by collectors is the large domed curled-wire cage which was made and exported from Tunisia and the North African coast. Both types are still manufactured in Spain, and are popular tourist souvenirs as well as being exported via Spanish handicraft shops.

The ceramic and wire cage designs were taken to the Low Countries when these were Spanish provinces, and were also directly imported by Dutch traders during the 16th and 17th centuries. In Dutch cities famous for their pottery, such as Delft, the Moorish porcelain birdcage was adapted to the local blue and white chinaware style. This tradition continues to the present day, making accurate dating of cages extremely difficult.

By the 18th century, caged birds were becoming fashionable with the rich, and with France setting the trends in interior decoration and garden planning, openwork gilt-wire cages came into fashion about 1700 and remained popular throughout the 18th century.
The doll's house cage began to appear in the 1730s, often as a copy of a Palladian-style country mansion, The design continued to be used until the end of the 19th century, by then copying the red brick suburban villas of the Victorian middle class, and becoming a favorite in the nursery. Some of the cages have survived because they are mainly made of wood; often the barred section is at the ends, the front depicting the facade of a house, and the back remaining plain so that the cage could hang or stand against a wall. Quite often the "windows" are fully glazed and some cages even boast the interior fittings of a house, with perches acting as miniature "minstrels' galleries." Such cages were usually made to order by a local carpenter, and oblong in shape.

Some doll's house birdcages were also made in Germany. They are smaller than British models, and of course illustrate German architecture, with its steeply angled roofs and dormer windows. Tiny decorative wooden cages were also made in Germany in the 18th century and particularly in the early 19th century when the export trade in German roller canaries was at its peak. These come both in wire and as box cages with solid backs, the latter being the more common. The box cage favors the pediment and pediment-shaped curves over the wire front, and lots of gilt work. Gingerbread and fretted wood carving, involving cable like twists of wood, swags of simulated drapery, urns, spirals and flourishes are typical of the elaborate cages of the Harz mountain regions. The double-headed eagle, with or without the companion motif of crossed flags, is also frequently employed in the design of German cages of the 1820s.
Bell-shaped brass parrot cages began to appear around 1780 all over Europe and they can be dated by their cylindrical feeder pots. These cages were simple and elegant, the only decoration often being a cut-out metal panel round the base.

The use of mahogany and rosewood marks the Regency in England. Before this period, Continental birdcage designers used golden-tinted woods, often with marquetry panels in contrasting colors, for by now the large free-standing indoor aviary was a cabinet maker's piece, often ordered to match a set of furniture.

The fashion for oriental styles resulted in a number of pagoda-like cage designs or pagoda-like structures in which red lacquers were used to add to the effect. Also around this period a metallic decoration similar to today's rickrack braid seems to have become popular, often in a contrasting shade to the rest of the cage.. It was quite common, too, for the door to be a fake, or only semi functional at this time; for getting inside the cage, the roof, which was secured by a metal clip, was lifted off.

Although not yet factory produced, cages by the early 19th century, when the lower and middle and working classes took up birdkeeping, were made to a formula, and the collector will come across several of the same type. Many have rusted badly and are in need of more loving renovation than better quality earlier cages. Bars may have to be soldered back into place and the whole cage repainted before its value will be increased.

In the 1820s the basic bell shape of ceramic birdcages began to grow a base ledge, giving the cage the appearance of sitting on a cake stand. This style had been made from the 1780s onwards, but it became much more widespread from the 1820s and remained a favorite parlor cage for the English market for the next thirty years.

The 19th century love of ornamentation inspired the production of a number of birdcages in which the Victorians and their Continental contemporaries hesitated to confine birds. These are in fact products of the model-makers' art, such as the spired "Gothic Cathedral" birdcage, one of the most prominent exhibits in the Vogelbauer Museum, Neheim Husten, 25 miles east of Dortmund in Germany.
Twentieth century cages are of course less interesting than the older ones. After 1914 the gilded-wire cage gave way to chrome, the popular medium of the 1920s. A matte finish appeared in the late 1920s and 1930s, and super-sheen chromes returned after World War II when, during the budgerigar boom, there was also a fashion for cages with horizontal bars. The fashion for companion budgerigars during the 1950s encouraged the production of drop-fronted "play cages."

Some collectors enjoy searching for inexpensive cages that can be found overseas, and the Hong Kong bird fanciers, for example, often use cages of unvarnished split bamboo with wooden bases with food and water containers in fine hand-painted china.
In the western world, plastics are used for side panels and feeding pots in small cages, and fiberglass for wader pools and rock formations in large aviaries. The small domestic aviary is made of rigid acrylic plastic and lightweight metals.

Some department stores sell aviaries made of cedarwood or white wire for the patio, A few cylindrical aviaries on wheels, with painted metal canopies, have also been imported Antique birdcages are a favorite of interior designers, and with a little imagination a cage can make a dramatic statement as a display case, especially if it's entwined with rustic grape vines, leaf or flower plants and contains a fake bird. It's also fun to decorate a birdcage so that it's in style with each season and/or holiday.

Vintage cages often can be found in antique shops, at flea markets or at yard and garage

Plastic birdcage, c. 1940 may sell for $30- $40

Four-story bamboo birdcage (painted white), c, 1960 may sell for $60-70

Canary Cage, wood with iron water dish and wood feeder, c. 1940, may sell for $20-$30

Metal Cage with plastic base, c. 1950, may sell for $40
Art Deco Metal Cage, c. 1950, may sell for $10

Further Reading
Leslie Garisto, Birdcage Book: Antique Birdcages for the Contemporary Collector, Simon & Schuster, .1992