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Preserving a Memory

© Jen Longshaw

Images of glassy eyed lions and tigers staring down from the wood lined walls of a trophy room in an old English country house are what first comes to mind when you think of taxidermy. The word seems synonymous with the days of the big game hunters where safaris consisted of the concerted and indiscriminate slaughter of wildlife. This is doing the art a disservice as taxidermy is a skilled profession calling for someone who combines the abilities of artist, sculptor, draughtsman, wood carver and tanner.

Coming from the Greek word "taxis" meaning movement and "derma" meaning skin the art has evolved over time from tanning animal skins in early days to the 1800's when hunters would take their kills to upholstery shops where the animal's skin would be sewn up and then stuffed with rags. In the public's mind the term taxidermy equalled a haphazard effort where the results were wooden at best, laughable at worst. But today nothing is now further from the truth.

The aim of taxidermy is to produce a specimen that is as realistic as possible. First the animal's skin (which includes feathers and fur) is tanned or chemically preserved before being mounted over an artificial skeleton or "mannikin". In the past these were constructed of a skull fixed to a wooden armature with muscles being sculpted in clay by the taxidermist. Today mannikins are mass-produced and constructed from polyurethane foam with every muscle, tendon and vein visible therefore giving a more realistic appearance to the specimen. After preserving the skin the mannikin will be prepared by inserting glass eyes, antlers and other distinguishing features. Clay or epoxy is then sculpted to represent facial characteristics and fill out any shrunken areas, and the skin is then glued over this and positioned so as to give a life-like appearance. After this the incision will be sewn up and the hair, fur or feathers groomed and any faded areas restored with artist's oil, acrylic or latex paints.

The usual view of a taxidermy subject is the game head mount with a head to shoulders view of the animal although contemporary taxidermists are now presenting their work on pedestal mounts where they can be seen from a 360° angle, often incorporating some aspect of the creature's environment into an artistically pleasing composition. The mounting of fish however remains one of the more difficult procedures as fish skin fades as it dries necessitating the recreation of its scales with paint. Often as with so many other wildlife subjects the entire fish is man made, only representing a memory while the original is released back into the water from which it came.

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