Taxidermy

Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body for display or study. The name comes from Ancient Greek words meaning "arrangement of skin."

People who practice this art are called taxidermists. They use many different skills to do their work. These skills include sculpture, painting, and tanning. Taxidermists often try to make animals look lifelike. Some people do this for museums to show rare species. Others do it to keep a memory of a pet.

To make a mount, a taxidermist follows several careful steps. First, the animal is skinned in a way similar to preparing food. This is often done without opening the body cavity. Next, the skin is treated with chemicals or tanned. The taxidermist then places the skin over a form. These forms are called mannequins. They can be made from wood, wool, and wire. They can also be made from polyurethane.

Taxidermists may use clay to shape facial features. They also use clay to help set glass eyes. This helps the animal look more real.

People have preserved animal skins throughout all of human history. Ancient Egyptians even used embalming for animals found in mummies. In the 1700s, people began publishing ways to preserve birds. René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur wrote about this in France in 1748. Later, Jean-Baptiste Bécœur helped make taxidermy a more serious practice. In the 1800s, some people even used upholstery shops to stuff skins. These workers used rags and cotton to fill the animals. This is where the term "stuffed animal" came from.

Taxidermy became very popular during the Victorian era. This was a time when mounted animals were used for home decor. John Hancock is often called the father of modern taxidermy. He used clay and plaster to make birds look very real. His work was shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London.

Some artists even made funny scenes called anthropomorphic taxidermy. Walter Potter was a famous artist in this style. He made a scene with 48 rabbits in a school. He also made scenes with kittens having a tea party.

Another famous pair was William and Edward Hart. They created dioramas of squirrels that looked like they were boxing.

Today, taxidermy has many different and modern forms. Some artists create "rogue taxidermy," which is a type of mixed media sculpture. The name was created in 2004 by a group in Minnesota. This group included artists Sarina Brewer, Scott Bibus, and Robert Marbury.

Rogue taxidermy can use real parts or just synthetic materials. It can look like a real animal or something imaginary, like a griffin. There is also "faux taxidermy," which uses fake animal heads for decoration. This shows how the old art of skin arrangement keeps changing. It connects old history with new, creative ideas.