The Dandelion Cranes were a part of the Gruiformes order that contains a considerable number of living and extinct bird families. Dandelion Cranes were known to always come in pairs and to be vivacious animals.

Born as twins, Dandelion Cranes were inseparable until they found their mate and coupled with them. Rarely, over two Dandelion Cranes were spotted at the same time. The cranes preferred only their twin or mate’s company.

The Dandelion Cranes were easily recognised thanks to their blue feathery crown on top of their heads. As far as history records, no other species of cranes sported the shimmering blue plumage crowns of the Dandelion Cranes. The bloodline of the blue crowned Extinct Animal still flows through the Balearica line, but with different coloured crowns. Another unique trait of that blue crown is that the feathers resembled and behaved like dandelion fluff. At the end of the growing stage, a crown feather would come loose. Instead of falling to the ground, it would drift away on a breeze. Like a fluffy dandelion seed. Hence the name Dandelion Cranes.

The most spectacular feature of the Cranes was not their crowns, but their unique colouration and fan-like wings. Fiery red and burned orange contrasted with the deep blue feathers and crown. The uncommon pleating of their fan-like wings not only looked beautiful; it gave the cranes unmatched speeds in the sky. When unfolding their wings, it even sounded like a pleated paper fan spreading out.

New Wallcovering Sneak Peak!

The unique features of the Dandelion Cranes inspired a new Moooi Wallcovering design that will be part of a brand-new Wallcovering Collection. The Dandelion Cranes Wallcovering is a pleated paper wall covering bursting with colour, resembling the Extinct Animal’s unique plumage.

The new Dandelion Cranes Wallcovering is visible in Chapter III of A Digital Life Extraordinary: Paper Play.

The Dandelion Cranes and the wall covering they inspired in colour Heliotrope 2022

Dandelion Cranes Wallcovering!

The unique features of the Dandelion Cranes inspired a Moooi Wallcovering design that is part of the Memento Moooi Wallcovering collection. The Dandelion Cranes Wallcovering is a pleated paper wall covering bursting with colour, resembling the Extinct Animal’s unique plumage.

The Dandelion Cranes Wallcovering is visible in Chapter III of A Digital Life Extraordinary: Paper Play and available online, at Moooi Brand Stores, and at selected Moooi dealers.

Moooi's Museum of Extinct Animals at Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy 2018

Moooi’s Museum of Extinct Animals

Moooi sailed away on a bold adventure around the globe and dug up the dustiest of museum archives to find invaluable treasures: the drawings of lost animals, trimmed by imagination. The most invaluable treasure from past and present expeditions is the unexpected diversity of beauty, in all its forms…

For Moooi, unique drawings of forgotten species were made available by museums and archives from all over the world. Inspired by ten magnificent extinct animal drawings, Moooi created designs for surfaces: a new collection of fabrics and leathers, wall coverings and carpets that bring the Extinct Animals back to life!