#taximag #4 July 2015
Hello‌ I need your help. Please.
Apart from finding extraordinary people, the objective of #taximag is to sell enough copies to pay for the next print run. If you have any bright ideas that you think will help, please tell me about it on hello@curiouskanna.com Please provide as much detail as you can and explain why you think it will help shift more copies. If I use your idea, or if I think I will use it in future, you will be rewarded with the next 4 issues of #taximag absolutely free. In the meantime, please tell your friends that they can buy #taximag on ebay. Kanna x www.curiouskanna.com
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Inside 4 - 11 Neon Taxidermy
36 - 39 Taxidermy and Entomolgy Miniatures
12 -19 Amanda’s Autopsies
40 - 45 Taxidermy at the Horniman
20 - 23 Dead Safari Diaries
46 - 49 Beginner Taxidermy
24 - 29 The Reluctant Taxidermist 30 - 35 Death Masks
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Neon Taxidermy Story by Kanna Ingleson/Photos by Katherine Edden
Contemporary taxidermy, and colour in unexpected places, are the constants in in an evolving and utterly controlled artistic landscape that comprises Harriet Horton’s creative career. Her clever trademark use of bright neon transforms her work into beautiful sculptural pieces that are unmistakably original. Working out of an immaculately organised studio in London’s East End, Harriet arrives for our photo shoot bang on time, with coffee for everyone, and a photo of a multi-textured concrete wall. This, she confidently explains, is the inspiration for a plinth she is creating for a new piece soon to emerge from her imagination. “The brutal nature of the layered concrete will contrast well with the glass and the organic elements”. Harriet clearly thinks things through and seems comfortable with her own artistic judgment. Everything has a plan and you get the impression there isn’t much trial and error going on here. Born the youngest of three to a nurse and an inventor, there is nothing traditional about Harriet’s taxidermy and that’s exactly how she likes it. For a start, her animals are often dyed with colours never intended for wild creatures. Harriet reasons that once animals have died, natural colouring no longer serves the original purpose and it becomes pointless. Replacing natural hues with synthetic hair dyes somehow makes the inherent subject of death seem more gentle and not quite so stark. The coloured neon light introduces a playful narrative into otherwise lifeless pieces. Harriet works to a routine and prefers to do the technical skinning and preparation tasks in the morning, usually while listening to techno music. The more challenging artistic elements are reserved for comparatively silent afternoons. She makes her own display cases, cuts her own marble and considers packaging to be part of the creative interaction she has with the people who buy her work. She plays with the fact that packaging evokes emotional responses and uses pizza boxes for her printed work. This insight is almost certainly a nod to a stint in advertising that paid for a taxidermy course with taxidermy professional George Jameson in Edinburgh. Ever the pragmatist, Harriet asked George what she would need to do to become a professional taxidermist. Inspired by his advice to practice every day for 3 years, she embarked on her quest for proficiency. Harriet is happiest when she is in control of the technical and creative processes that underpin her work. She knows exactly what she wants to do and right now she is creating more of her taxidermy and neon pieces for public spaces and private clients. While death is an integral element in this work, no animals were, or ever will be, killed for her taxidermy. More often than not, roadkill is the reason.
Get in touch: Website: http://harriethorton.com Twitter: @harrietdhorton Instagram: @harrietdhorton
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Amanda’s Autopsies Story by Kanna Ingleson/Photos by Philip GW Smith
It was the sell-off of the Walter Potter collection and the certainty that it would permanently disappear from public view that first inspired Amanda Sutton to start creating her own brand of anthropomorphic taxidermy. Her favourite “Alice in Wonderland” theme is ideally suited to oddly eccentric images of fully dressed dead animals in animated poses. This is the world that Amanda inhabits and her interest in the technical and artistic aspects of taxidermy go back a long way. Her childhood ambition was to pursue a career in medical autopsies which stemmed from an altruistic interest in helping people establish why their loved ones had died. Instead Amanda went on to become an illustrator and later merged her many interests into a self-funding taxidermy hobby better known to many as “Amanda’s Autopsies”. One of Amanda’s most recent projects was the preservation of a gangly two headed stillborn lamb from Cornwall. This fitted perfectly into Amanda’s creative arena and posed a series of huge technical challenges. To begin with, this lamb was lopsided in almost all respects, had a cleft lip, two spines and no genitals. Amanda used insulation foam to build the mannekin in a standing position. This was by far the most difficult aspect of this project, something which Amanda thinks explains why so many lamb mounts are preserved in a crouched or lying position. The skeleton will be removed from the carcass, rearticulated and cased up in a separate collaboration project. But for now, it is still in her freezer. Amanda is completely self-taught. This is rare in a world where classes and books abound, but this wasn’t the case when she started out. Amanda relied on a manual published in the 1980’s called “Taxidermy and Tanning” by Gerald J Grantz, one that continues to get good reviews by aspiring taxidermists even today. Having done it the hard way, Amanda is generous with her time and is happy to answer questions and pass on advice. She regularly holds taxidermy workshops to raise funds for Bart’s Museum and is known for her educational live demonstrations. Amanda thinks old collections should be preserved for future generations, not least because some of these animals are facing extinction. Amanda puts her money where her mouth is and actively supports the British Historical Taxidermy Society to help museums to keep collections in good order and on display, rather than rotting in some back room due to lack of funding and support. While Amanda does not see the point in killing animals to support taxidermy-driven demand, she is pragmatic about death. She thinks that animals should be appreciated when they are alive but once they are dead they become a medium that a taxidermist can use to preserve the beauty of that animal in whatever way best suits their artistic sensibility. To that end, Amanda also creates traditional taxidermy, jewellery, wet specimens and steampunk themed pieces on commission. In most cases the animals she uses either died naturally or are roadside casulaties.
Get in touch: Website: www.amandasautopsies.com Instagram: @amandasautopsies
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Dead Safari diaries by Karen Unrue photos by Katherine Edden
Taxidermy collectors quickly develop nonchalance about sharing their living space with the dead. It’s similar, I guess, to a forensic examiner being able to eat his lunch standing next to a dissected corpse, or a funeral home beautician gaily chatting about her night out while applying blusher to the lifeless cheeks of Mrs Goldstein. The dead lose their shock factor. I mean, I no longer get the bejeezus scared out of me by moonlight glinting on the glass eyes of the snarling dog-head mounted in the hall when I sleepily stumble to the loo in the middle of the night. Nor am I, now, caught unawares by the sight of the full sized lioness loitering in the bedroom when I pop in for a change of clothes. This nonchalance, however, is little understood by the non collector, and uninitiated house guests can sometimes make us feel that we just might be a little weird after all. One such guest, for instance, asks that we turn the case containing the Victorian domestic cat, in the spare room, around to face the wall when she comes to stay. I will admit that its shocked facial expression, undoubtedly fashioned by an enthusiastic amateur, is odd and seems to imply that the phrase, “I think we’ll have him stuffed” was said out loud before he was completely dead. But really is stuffing a pet any different to stuffing a wild animal? I don’t think so - but then again, it could just be my nonchalance showing through. Another guest doesn’t like waking up to the sight of the lion’s head in full growl on the wall at the end of the bed when he comes to stay, and asks to have it removed for the duration of his visit. Really? But it’s a masterpiece by the renowned taxidermist Roland Ward for goodness sake. It’s a privilege, surely, to set your eyes on such a fine example of Victorian taxidermy first thing in the morning! Kanna’s response to such requests by friends and family is to tell them to “get over it”, and perhaps they should, but I am more inclined to see their point of view and oblige them. I believe this indicates that it is, indeed, she who is the true collector and that her nonchalance goes several layers deeper than mine. There has been one exception to her firm stand, however. One evening the 5 year old son of a dear friend of ours padded in from the bedroom, after being laid down to sleep, asking tearfully if we would remove the angry dog with the puppies on its back from the shelf near his bed because it scared him. We had no idea what he was talking about as we owned no such creature. After further investigation, however, we discovered he was referring to the snarling wild cat with the stole, made from several stoats sewn together, draped across its back. Despite our reassurances of, “It’s ok, its dead. It can’t hurt you” he became increasingly upset and for a moment even Kanna saw it through the eyes of this child and was horrified – but only for a moment I assure you.
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The Reluctant Taxidermist Story by Kanna Ingleson/Photos by Katherine Edden
Hopping over a central reservation in pursuit of roadkill is not the best idea in the world. That’s why Izzy Rochester usually has sunglasses in her car along with the bags and gloves that every other driving taxidermist will relate to. Izzy works as an assistant eco-toxicologist and spends her days making sure fertilizers and pesticides are safe for plants and animals. On the other hand, her daily commute takes her on the “Road of Death” - also known as the A19 - where she finds dead birds or mammals on most days. She explains rather convincingly that getting a badger into a bag is like getting a bear into a crisp packet. It was an unexpected PPI payment and a dead crow in a field that collectively prompted Izzy to sign up for an 8 hour taxidermy class. You see, Izzy isn’t really interested in taxidermy in the way that many of us are. She is interested in wildlife and she thinks that taxidermy is the best way of preserving the qualities they exhibited in life. Having been introduced to the basics by taxidermy professional Dave Hornbrook, Izzy practiced and persevered for two years and is now producing some impressive work out of the coolest taxidermy shed in Yorkshire. Just the other day she used it as a refuge for an injured crow and wondered out loud whether or not the crow in question might be bothered by the real purpose of the space. Izzy is starting to specialise in very small birds and always aims to have them as lifelike as possible. This is why she is not keen on rearranging individual feathers to create pristine mounts because this is not how you encounter them in the wild. Keen to take her work to the next level, Izzy recently had her first training session with world famous bird taxidermist Jack Fishwick, an experience that turned out to be initimidating and enlightening, probably in equal measure. Izzy explained afterwards that it was the little things that made the biggest difference and she is more enthusiastic than ever about getting those practice hours in. While she is relatively new to taxidermy, Izzy’s love of the outdoors is life-long. As a child she collected bones and other natural ephemera that always found their way into her rucksack next to the sandwiches, something that didn’t always impress her older brother. “Guess the roadkill” was always a favourite game on car journeys and offers yet another clue to her early interests. Things haven’t changed much. During our visit, Izzy enthusiastically showed us a ruby tailed wasp she had found in some dog poo and the skin of a dragonfly that she had once received as a suitably quirky leaving present from thoughtful colleagues. Izzy’s love of wildlife will no doubt continue to inspire and inform her taxidermy work, and for that reason she is one to watch.
Get in touch: Email: izzy_rcohester@yahoo.co.uk Instagram: izzix_ Facebook: Izzy Rochester
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Death Masks as Taxidermy Reference Story by Kanna Ingleson/Photos by Sean Connell
Sean Connell is a man who is serious about collecting references to add authenticity to taxidermy projects. He has assembled many books, cut out pictures wherever he could find them and has taken his camera to the zoo in his quest to learn as much as possible about animals and their anatomy. All of this he has carefully catalogued and glued into impeccably ordered files forming vast volumes of reference material to support almost any eventuality. Adding death masks to the reference mix transformed this 2-D archive into a 3-D representation that more accurately represented the creature in life. Speaking at the UK Taxidermy Guild Conference earlier this year, Sean explained that death masks as taxidermy references were nothing new. American taxidermist Carl Akeley, considered to be the father of modern taxidermy, collected gorilla death masks in the 1920s - none of which were the same. British Naturalist Montagu Browne created a mould and a cast of a whole skinned tiger, having inflated the lungs beforehand to get the dimensions absolutely right and to make it appear as lifelike as possible. Sean, who is a taxidermist as well as a sculptor and fine art painter, explains that photo references, observation and measurement all help build up a general image of what an animal should look like. But it is only with the death mask that you can capture the physical characteristics of that specific animal. In addition to facial characteristics, casting can be used to accurately capture other distinguishing characteristics such as feet, noses, ears, the inside of the mouth and testicles. One can even go one step further and shave the animal to reveal muscle structure and definition that would otherwise remain largely hidden. Alginate is a key ingredient for creating death masks. It is a liquid gel that can flow into the smallest places and can capture accurate detail. It is good for creating teeth, mouth and tongue impressions. On the other hand, the weight of the alginate can deform these soft features and can move eye lids or lips into unnatural positions. Experience counts and Sean says that minimum thickness should be between 6mm and 8mm. Once the alginate has been applied and has set, a plaster jacket needs to be applied on top of the alginate. The plaster should be thick, ideally the consistency of cream. Sean suggests that you always label all your casts and include a wall hanger in the back while it is still wet to ensure easy storage later on. Sean concedes that he did make one mistake. He says he probably spent far too much time collecting all kinds of references and probably not enough time actually applying it to taxidermy projects.
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Tiny Taxidermy Laura Brownhill’s taxidermy and entomology themed dollhouse miniatures shows just how much room there is for new creative expression in a traditional arena. Laura spoke to #taximag about the challenges of scaling everything down but still maintaining all the detail. Are you self-taught? My grandparents have been hand making dollshouse miniatures for the past 30 years so a lot of their skills, techniques and secrets have been passed down to me. My nana taught me the fundamentals of using different materials and media to create a range of effects and shared with me the secrets she had learnt over the years. My grandad taught me the importance of scale and is forever giving me constructive criticism about my work which has taught me to be more patient and consider every tiny detail. Using the skills and techniques they taught me I was able to apply my own ideas combined with my interest in the natural world to create my own miniature work. I taught myself how to make the birds and over time figured out the techniques which best suited me. What materials do you use? Do you need any special equipment? One of the most useful pieces of equipment I use is an imperial ruler where one inch is divisible into increments of 1/12 inches. Most dollshouse miniatures are made at 1/12th scale so I use it to determine the size I need to make my work in miniature. I make my work using polymer clay which I mould into shape and then bake in a toaster oven to harden. Each bird and butterfly is then individually hand-painted with the smallest paintbrushes I can get my hands on and placed into a setting or under a dome. I have never used a magnifying glass when I’m in the process of making my items, however when I have finished I do check them with a magnifying lamp. With that in mind I encourage people to scrutinise my work under the magnifying glass so they don’t miss any of the detail! What is the most challenging piece you have ever made? Everything I make is challenging, especially to start with. There are so many things to consider such as background research on the birds/butterflies, getting the right scale, positioning of the birds and mixing the correct colours to paint with and then just the painting itself. The most frustrating fiddly things I have to do are the little butterflies in jam jars. It requires all my patience to find the right place for them to sit in the jars and stay there. I have no idea how people manage to make entire boats in bottles! I have recently started making larger birds such as carrion crows and magpies which have their own challenges. They are much larger than any other bird I have worked on so I am aware they are more visible for scrutiny under the naked eye. With this in mind I have made the wings individually and added them to the body of the bird which I had never tried before.
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What are you working on next? I regularly visit a local antiques fair where I see the same taxidermy bird every time, he is an old looking sparrow hawk crouched over his prey with wings spread and an evil look in his eye. Every time I see him I become more and more inspired and enthused to make larger more intricate birds with wings spread. I am also working on some display boxes to put them in to complete the settings. This is something to look out for in the next few months. I am also going to make some tall display cabinets such as the ones you see in museums and collectors houses with drawers filled with row upon row of butterflies and moths. What are the main skills needed to be good at making dollshouse miniatures? Patience, perseverance, a good eye, steady hand and creativity! When making new items I can spend hours at a time working, remaking and reworking again to find the best media and materials to use. It teaches you to be patient and persevere when something isn’t looking or working how you want it to. You have to be creative when thinking about what materials to use and always think outside the box. Do you have a day job? I graduated from university in 2013 with a degree in Physical Geography and Geology and got a job as a graduate environmental engineer which I really enjoyed and then worked on my miniatures in the evenings. I spent most of my days at work thinking about all the lovely miniature things I wanted to make but did not have time to. In November 2014 I quit my job in order to focus on my dollshouse and miniature work with my grandparents. My dream is to carry on their business called Country Treasures which they have worked so hard on and built up over the past 30 years. How can I buy your work? I currently sell my work at specialist dollshouse and miniature fairs with my grandparents around the UK and have been doing this for the past 3 years. You can find out what shows I will be attending by visiting the Country Treasures website (www. countrytreasures.co.uk). However by the end of this summer my work should be available to buy online. Do you accept commissions? I am open to the idea and happy to discuss any requests or questions over email.
Get in touch: Email: brownhilllaura@gmail.com Instagram: @awaywiththefairiesminiatures Tumblr: www.awaywiththefairiesminiatures.tumblr.com
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Taxidermy at the Horniman Story by Kanna Ingleson / Photos by Charlotte Ridley
Museums are complex and competitive places that require dedication and innovation to keep them alive. Horniman Museum Conservator Charlotte Ridley embodies these values and showed me how some of this works in practice behind the scenes. Taxidermy looms large at the Horniman Museum and gardens in South London. A massively overstuffed walrus comfortably coexists alongside contemporary art and historic specimens charting the golden era of taxidermy in the 19th century. Despite being a complete misrepresentation of a live walrus, its makers had never seen a real one and had no idea what the realistic proportions were supposed to be. This quirky aspect of its history is part of what makes the walrus interesting today and almost certainly contributes to its iconic status. Horniman Conservator Charlotte Ridley explains that the biography of a specimen is everything that makes it what it is today. This includes the work done by the maker - however questionable that might be - wear and tear, and conservation done along the way. This information is all highly valued and extensively documented, whether it is associated with an enormous anatomically impossible creature like the walrus, or a less conspicuous but more realistic piece currently in storage. Conservation not Restoration Conservation work at the Horniman is guided by the principle that any intervention should be both transparent to others and reversible. Charlotte explains that the “6 inch 6 foot rule� applies whereby conservation work on any piece should be clearly visible from 6 inches away but not from 6 feet. Unlike restoration, conservation does not involve the replacement of any missing bits and the intention is not to make it look the way it did when it was first made. There must be no mistaking what was originally in place and what was done later by the conservator.
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Assessing the Situation When it comes to taxidermy, Charlotte explains that damage is almost always caused by light, temperature, relative humidity, insects and fat burn. Fat burn is when fats haven’t been adequately removed from the inside of skin. The fats that remain seep into the skin and oxidize. This stains the skin, hardens it and makes it brittle causing splits, tears and fur or feather loss. When assessing bird taxidermy in particular, Charlotte says the first thing to do is to start from the head and simply to look at it very carefully. Birds don’t naturally have dull feathers and nine times out of 10 the piece needs a good clean. While London is known for copious amounts of dust, older pieces may well still bear a sticky residue from the soot and smog characteristic of the early 1900s. As a general precaution against toxins, Charlotte always “suits up” with gloves, mask and disposable apron when she works with taxidermy. Tests at the museum show that arsenic levels vary greatly between pieces and that when it does occur, most of it is located in the head. Pesticide build-up is not uncommon and mercury has been found. Dealing with Dirt and Dust Loose dust can be removed with a dry cotton swab and, if necessary, a museum vacuum cleaner. This is much smaller than a domestic unit and has very low suction settings along with various brushes ideally suited to old and delicate fur and feathers. When it comes to getting rid of that sticky ingrained Victorian dirt, Charlotte says a 50-50 solution of distilled water and surgical alcohol works well. Water is known as the universal solvent because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Too much water, on the other hand, can rehydrate the skin only for it to dry out and split later. Excessive moisture on an old skin can also have the unwanted side-effect of encouraging mould. Very dirty feathers, like the ones on the owl shown here, can be very effectively cleaned by carefully lifting a feather, putting blotting paper underneath it and gently applying the water and alcohol solution with a soft brush. The clean wet feathers will look worryingly bedraggled but will start going back to normal after they are cold dried with a hairdryer. Feathers that come off during cleaning, usually in the early stages of dusting, can be glued back in place with neutral PVA glue. This requires considerable knowledge and care as the conservator needs to ensure that the right feathers are glued back into the right place. At the Horniman, no new feathers are ever added to any piece.
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Sympathetic Conservation In the case of the kingfishers shown here, the skin had split behind the neck. Charlotte created a barrier out of Japanese tissue paper which she glued onto the bind-up mannekin with wheat starch adhesive. The kingfisher skin was then glued onto the paper. A small area of paper that remained exposed and visible on the head was tinted to blend in with the feathers. Charlotte explains that this is known as “sympathetic conservation� and it involves minimum, reversible intervention designed to ensure that the piece lasts longer than it otherwise might have. Charlotte comes to museum conservation from an arts background and there is plenty of opportunity for creativity in the lab. Along with some like-minded colleagues, she has been experimenting with mammal fur fills made from texturized Japanese tissue paper and dry pigment. This is especially good for improving the tips of mammal ears that often come off over time, and in the exact colour variations required. Similar experiments are going on at the Horniman with needle felting which, to the uninitiated, looked just like the real thing. Dry Cleaning Left to their own devices, beaks and legs will often lose their colour and so they are usually painted when they are first preserved. Solvents can interact badly with paint and so a dry clean is best. This involves a gentle rub down with a vulcanized rubber sponge. Sometimes the paint might be flaking off and these flakes can be glued back in place. Charlotte explains that the case and ground work is more likely to need repairs than the bird or mammal itself and this is assessed by the museum on a case by case basis. Stores Museums usually display only a fraction of the specimens that they hold in their collections. The rest is held in storage until in-house displays are changed or pieces are sent out on loan to other museums and organisations. Once they have been selected for display, conservators will assess, clean, repair and package the piece for display elsewhere. The Horniman’s taxidermy stores are in an old Victorian building in Greenwich. Everything is meticulously labeled, documented and packed. Lighting and humidity is controlled and pest control is taken very seriously. Charlotte showed me around the stores and talked me through the process. Read all about it on the next page.
Get in touch: Website: www.horniman.ac.uk Facebook@ Horniman Museum and Gardens Instagram: @hornimanmuseumandgardens Twitter: @hornimanmuseum
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Battling Nature
Story by Charlotte Ridley/Photos by Kanna Ingleson
The conservation of cultural material, including taxidermy, is a battle against nature. This rather dramatic assessment was one of the first things I was told as a conservation student . Most “things” in this world are meant to deteriorate. While materials like stone, metal and glass deteriorate more slowly than organic materials like skin, fur, feathers and wood, they will ultimately all crumble and break down. Just as “prevention is better than cure” in human health, the preventive care of taxidermy collections is possibly more crucial in prolonging their survival than interventive treatments later on. In museum collections we aim to regulate “agents of deterioration”. This includes light and ultra violet levels, the humidity and the temperature of galleries and storage areas as well as dust levels and insects. We store and display specimens in a way that supports their physical structure and prevents mechanical damage to limbs, feet, feathers and fur. Light levels and UV We keep light levels and ultra violet levels low to prevent colour fading. UV rays will also cause chemical reactions in the chemical structure of fur, feathers and skin causing these materials to gradually breakdown. So to prolong the life of taxidermy we try to keep it displayed and stored in low light levels. Relative Humidity It is also important to monitor the humidity of the area specimens are displayed and stored in. We measure humidity as relative humidity (RH) which is the amount of moisture in the air measured at a given time against the maximum amount of moisture the air can hold at that temperature. Too much moisture will cause the skins of taxidermy to swell, too little and the skin will shrink. If the RH fluctuates regularly, swinging from one extreme to the other, it will cause the skin to split and deteriorate. The Horniman tries to buffer swings in humidity by using moisture absorbent material in cases with tight seals. We use humidifiers to release moisture into the environment. Temperatures High temperature can speed up the rate of material breakdown; drying fibres, feathers and skin and causing these materials to become brittle. Glues used to make or treat the specimens can fail at high temperatures. Add a high RH to a high temperature and this can cause the internal metal armatures of taxidermy specimens to corrode.
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Dust Dust is generally a mixture of soil (with a high percentage of silica particles from the earth), soot, lint and skin flakes. It is obviously unsightly but it can also be abrasive to object surfaces and is hydroscopic (attracts water). It should be noted that an area with high humidity coupled with dust can encourage mould growth on specimens. In damp conditions mould can thrive and organic material like skin, fur and feathers are a good source of food. Battling dust levels can be difficult and museums try to prevent dust from settling on objects on display by using cases with tight door seals and by not keeping things on open display. Ultimately specimens should be cleaned regularly but this can be difficult to factor in to the schedule. At the Horniman, storage space is an issue, so not every specimen can be boxed – if this is the case the specimens are placed in polythene bags or protected by a tyvek (breathable textile) screen to try to limit exposure to dust. Good housekeeping – cleaning the stores and galleries – is crucial, as dust can be a source of food for insects. Insects Insects are a crucial part of our cycle of deterioration which stops humanity being up to our waists in rubbish and detritus. However they are an absolute nuisance to organic materials in museum collections. Taxidermy specimens rich in keratinous proteins- are a feast for insects like moth and carpet beetle. We monitor levels using pest traps and general observation. Infested specimens are wrapped and sealed in polythene and then frozen in a walk-in freezer at extremely low temperatures (lower than conventional freezers). Galleries and store areas are also sprayed with insecticides to try and keep levels low. It’s a constant battle! Packing and mounting We use neutral pH or acid free materials when treating, storing and displaying our specimens. Many materials emit acidic or alkaline gases which can interact with materials causing deterioration. We work with our technicians who are skilled at creating supportive mounts that help distribute weight correctly while displaying our specimens beautifully. Moving and handling The conservation team at the Horniman work with the collections management and exhibitions teams to safely move specimens from the store to the main site. We train museum staff in the correct handling of objects to prevent mechanical damage from poor handling. Poor or constant handling and movement are among one of the biggest causes of damage to specimens. It’s one of the reasons we don’t let the public stroke or touch our historic specimens on display. To counteract this limit on public interaction, the Horniman has a handling collection which includes a number of taxidermy and this allows the public to interact with these specimens on a closer level.
Get in touch: Twitter: @DutchessOChutney Instagram: @charlieridley84
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K A Curious Kanna Publication www. curiouskanna.com #taximag