Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting Part 23

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVI.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF ORNAMENTAL TAXIDERMY FROM THE NEW YORK EXHIBITION OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN TAXIDERMISTS TO THE U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Fig.

1. "Coming to the Point" By W.T. Hornaday.

Special Medal at Third Exhibition of S.A.

T.; also medal at Cincinnati Exposition, 1884.

2. "An Interrupted Dinner" By Frederic A. Lucas.

Diploma of Honor at First Exhibition.

3. Head of Caribou By W.J. Critchley.

(Presented by Professor Henry A. Ward.)

4. Peac.o.c.k Screen By Thos. W. Fraine.

5. "Wounded Heron" By F.S. Webster.

Second Specialty Medal, Third Exhibition, S.A.T.

6. Dead Gull By Edwin A. Capen.

7. Frightened Owl By John Wallace.

Special Medal, Third Exhibition.

8. Bald Eagle By John Wallace.

9. Fox Squirrel By P.W. Aldrich.

10. Humming-Bird Group By Mr. and Mrs.

Geo. H. Hedley.

11. Group of Gray Squirrels By Joseph Palmer.

12. Group of Ducks By William Palmer.

13. Grotesque Group of Frogs By J.F.D. Bailly.

14. Frogs Skating By J.F.D. Bailly.

15. Snowy Heron By Thomas Rowland.

16. Portrait of Jules Verreaux By J.F.D. Bailly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XVI. ORNAMENTAL]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TAXIDERMY.]

TABLE GROUPS.--Very fine specimens are often furnished with cases having gla.s.s on all sides, including the top, permitting inspection from all points. Of course every group of this kind requires a small table for its base. The most striking table group I have ever seen is one that was prepared by Mr. F.A. Lucas, ent.i.tled "An Interrupted Dinner," and represented by Fig. 2, Plate XVI. A red-tailed hawk has just killed a ruffed grouse, and has scarcely begun his meal when a goshawk swoops down upon him with outstretched talons to seize the quarry. The hawk has turned upon his back, shielding his prey with one wing, and with beak and talons "at full c.o.c.k" is ready to receive his a.s.sailant, who hovers in mid-air immediately above him. The goshawk is supported on an invisible bra.s.s standard, which enters his body by way of the tail, and the illusion is perfect.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 57.--Wall-case of Birds, by Frederic A. Lucas.]

Mr. Frederic S. Webster has in his Washington studio a table-case single specimen which is in every sense a masterpiece. It is very nearly a replica, but with a heron of a larger species, of his prize piece, "The Wounded Heron," represented in Plate XVI., Fig. 5. A snowy heron lies on its back (on a black velvet panel), its breast pierced by a gilt arrow, which the wounded bird has seized with its right foot, and is endeavoring to withdraw. The subject is a difficult one, and its treatment in every detail is masterly.

DEAD-GAME PANELS.--Game birds of all kinds--particularly the handsomest ducks, geese, grouse, woodc.o.c.k, and snipe--made to represent bunches of dead game, are very popular as dining-room ornaments, and during the last ten years the taxidermists of this country have produced thousands of them, many of great beauty. In regard to their proper make-up I will offer a few suggestions.

While the bird is yet warm, or at least relaxed, hang it up by one leg, pose it carefully, and mark out its outline on paper. See that the bird hangs like a _dead_ bird, and not like a stuffed bird. In mounting the skin, make the body flat rather than round, and have the eyes _three-quarters closed_. The majority of "dead-game" birds are mounted with their eyes wide open. Birds close their eyes when dying.

The "Dead Gull," shown in Plate XVI., Fig. 5, which is the work of Mr.

E.A. Capen, of Boston, author of "Oology of New England," may be taken as a perfect model of its kind. In every line it is a _dead_ bird, one that has been killed with small shot in a sportsman-like manner, and has fallen dead without a feather awry.

FIRE-SCREENS.--Probably no handsomer fire-screens were ever produced by a taxidermist than those of Mr. Thomas W. Fraine. The specimen presented by him to the National Museum is represented in Plate XVI., Fig. 4. It is made of the mounted head and neck of a peac.o.c.k, set against a background of the ocellated tail feathers, of which the magnificent metallic feather shield from the bird's back forms the centre. The framework is a very thin board of tough but light wood, the back of which is covered with satin or raw silk, and the whole is supported on an elegant gilt tripod standard. The effect of this arrangement as a whole is truly superb, and it is no wonder that Mr. Fraine's peac.o.c.k screens have been very popular.

The wings of the roseate spoonbill, the scarlet ibis, pelican, egret, great blue heron, and many other birds, are often made into fire-screens, either with or without the mounted head and neck. Of these the two first mentioned are the most beautiful, especially the roseate spoonbill.

There is one form of screen produced in the west against which I protest.

An entire bird is mounted standing on a perch-standard, its wings are spread full stretch, and drawn upward, regardless of the laws of anatomy, until the front edges meet and touch on a perpendicular line above the bird's back. Such an arrangement of wings for a bird that is otherwise _naturally_ mounted is painful to look upon, to say the least. The bird seems to be undergoing torture, and the general effect is not pretty.

BIRD MEDALLIONS.--In 1880 Mr. F.S. Webster's genius evolved one of the most beautiful designs in ornamental taxidermy ever produced, viz., the bird medallion. The idea of mounting one-half of a bird was not of itself a new one, but Mr. Webster's development of that suggestion was entirely new and novel. Instead of mounting one side of a bird with the rotundity that an actual half of a fully mounted bird should possess, he studiously flattened the subject, carefully preserving all the while a perfect uniformity in proportions, and in each case produced the proportions of an ordinary medallion. Of course both legs appeared on the specimen, and every specimen so mounted was the finest of its kind, and faultless in form and finish.

The first specimen of this sort may be described as a type of all the rest.

The subject chosen was a snowy heron (_Ardea caudidissima_) of extra fine quality. In the centre of a ma.s.sive and very deep gold and velvet frame, with a gla.s.s across its top, against a background of black velvet of the heaviest and finest quality stood the snow-white bird, in relief,--a genuine medallion. The exquisite plumes of the head, breast, and back lay against the rich black cloth like threads of spun gla.s.s. The head was raised, and the beak slightly elevated in a very life-like att.i.tude; the body rested on one leg, which stood on a little gilt log, modeled in papier-mache, and the other foot was held up near the breast in an att.i.tude characteristic of the herons. The effect as a whole was charming. There was nothing gaudy, nor cheap, nor hard in the arrangement, and the idea was a great success. The receiving-frame used by Mr. Webster was also his own design, called forth by the necessity of fully protecting the work.

Other birds that became popular subjects for treatment in this way were the wood duck, scarlet ibis, white ibis, roseate spoonbill, English pheasant, and resplendent trogon. Of course the color and quality of the material used as a background was varied to suit the colors of each subject, but of all the materials tried, plush proved to be most acceptable.

HEADS.--This subject has been fully discussed in another chapter. An additional example, showing a particularly fine head of a barren ground caribou, on a shield of a very artistic pattern, is to be seen in Plate XVI., Fig. 3, the original of which was mounted by Mr. William J.

Critchley, and presented to the Society, for its exhibit in the National Museum, by Professor Henry A. Ward.

SINGLE SPECIMENS.--Eagles, owls, hawks, ravens, crows, herons, ducks, grouse, and other game birds in general, mounted singly, on either plain or fancy pedestals, make very interesting and proper ornaments for the tops of book-cases, wall-brackets, easels, and the like. Good examples of objects of this cla.s.s are represented in Plate XVI. as follows: Fig. 8, Bald Eagle; Fig. 7, "Frightened Owl," by Mr. John Wallace, of New York City; Fig. 15, Snowy Egret, by Mr. Thomas Rowland; and No. 9, Gray Squirrel, by Mr. P.W. Aldrich, of Boston.

GROTESQUE GROUPS.--No one who has ever visited one of the exhibitions of the S.A.T. is likely to forget the exceedingly droll and mirth-provoking groups of stuffed frogs, caricaturing poor humanity, produced by Mr. J.F.D.

Bailly, now of Montreal, Canada. As a humorist and satirist our old friend Bailly has few equals, and, in conjunction with his fine mechanical skill, his love of the ridiculous took permanent form in groups of frogs. The frog seems to have been created for the especial purpose of enabling Monsieur Bailly to caricature mankind. The results must be seen to be appreciated.

We have had groups of frogs duelling, playing billiards, making love, getting drunk, smoking, dancing, fishing, gaming, electioneering, and what not. For frogs, however, there is only one taxidermist, for I have never seen anyone else, either French or American, who could even rival our old friend. He skinned every frog through its mouth, without breaking the skin, turned it wrong side out, wired it, made its legs of cotton, turned it back, filled its body with cotton, set it up in position, varnished it all over, and fitted it out with miniature furniture to suit the subject.

Mr. Bailly used to cut similar taxidermic capers with squirrels, and Messrs. Critchley, Lucas, and others have produced some very amusing grotesque pieces with cats and kittens. In Plate XVI., Fig. 15, is shown (indistinctly) one of Mr. Bailly's frog groups, ent.i.tled "Sold Again." A fisherman is in the act of pulling out a big fish, which the attending small boy reaches out to take in with a dip-net, when the fish turns out to be only an old shoe.

FUR RUGS WITH MOUNTED HEADS.--Before a raw pelt or skin can be made up as a rug, it must be sent to a first-cla.s.s tanner, and thoroughly tanned and dressed. This process should make the skin clean, soft, and pliable. If the head is to be mounted, that part should _not_ be tanned, nor put through any process. After the skin has been properly tanned, relax the head, and mount it in such a manner that the head will lie as flat as possible upon the floor. When the skull is present, it is customary to mount tiger, leopard, and bear rugs with the mouth open, snarling. Some prefer to have a head mounted with the lower jaw entirely off, and only the upper half of the head filled out. This makes of the head what is known as a "mask."

Every rug requires to have an inner lining of buckram to give it body and stiffness sufficient to keep it spread out flat. Underneath that must come the lining proper, of quilted felt of suitable color, which is generally left projecting an inch or two beyond the skin all around. This projecting edge is pinked with a pinking iron, to make it more ornamental.

The finest work on rugs, particularly the finer kinds, such as lion, tiger, leopard, and bear, is done by Mr. F.S. Webster, of Washington, who has developed this line of work most handsomely and systematically, and who does an immense amount of it. Elsewhere in this book appears full directions for the preservation of skins for sale as pelts for furriers'

use.

HOW TO MAKE IMITATION ROCKS.--In making a rockwork pedestal, the first thing is to build your foundation, of wood if it be very large, of wood covered with very stiff and strong paper, if it be small. In the latter case there must be a wooden skeleton to which the paper may be tacked.

Having tacked the paper on in large sheets, and duly crumpled it to get the proper form of the rocky ma.s.s, give the paper a coat of thick glue. When dry it will be quite stiff and strong. Now apply papier-mache of a coa.r.s.e quality, and model its surface to show the proper angles or lines of stratification. Procure some granite or sandstone, or whatever rock you choose to imitate, pound it up as finely as necessary, and after giving the surface of the papier-mache a coat of thick glue, apply your rock material by throwing it against the surface to be covered, so that the particles indent the surface and stick fast. In this way the whole surface can be completely covered, and when it is done with the actual material, no painting is necessary. The possibilities and variations in this line are infinite, and so much depends upon circ.u.mstances it is unprofitable to go further into details.

Very pretty single pieces, or small ma.s.ses of rock, may be made by using peat, or c.o.ke, or cork, either in large pieces or smaller pieces glued together, and covering the surface with fine sand mixed with various dry colors, and adding colored lichens in spots here and there.