The King's Camelopard - 2021 - Zebregs&Röell

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The King’s Camelopard

GUUS RÖELL & DICKIE ZEBREGS

The King’s Camelopard

Published by Zebregs&Röell Amsterdam – Maastricht 2021

To Sir David Attenborough, who has showed the world the curiosities of mother nature.

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Charles Frederick de Brocktorff (1775–1850) ‘Camelopard – a present from the Pacha of Egypt to the King – at Malta on its way to England’

Signed and dated C.F. de Brocktorff. / 1827. lower right, inscribed as titled in the painted margins lower centre. Pencil and watercolour heightened with gold paint and gum arabic on paper, 36.8 x 27.9 cm Price upon request

A gift so majestic, it made kings blush, and a gift so grand, it would startle Europe into a craze.

Pasha Muhammad Ali of Egypt (1805-1848) did it in 1827: he sent to Europe three magical spotted, horned creatures, each with a neck reaching the skies and legs as long as a house is high. One giraffe to King Charles X of France, one to Francis I of Austria and the most fabled one to King George IV of England. A curious sight for Europeans, who had not seen such a beast since the Medici giraffe in 1487.

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Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) Clara the Rhinoceros, 1749 Staatliches Museum Schwerin

than these royal gifts of giraffes from the Pasha except

perhaps

Clara

the

one-month

old

rhinoceros which roamed the house of Dutch VOC Governor-General of Bengal, Jan Albert Sichterman (1692-1764), who had received her as a gift from the Nawab Shuja-ud-din-khan, governor of Bengal for the Great Mughal in Delhi. Clara was so sweet and tame that, to the great amusement of guests, she was allowed to run around the dining table. After two years she became too big and further damage to the house had to be prevented. In 1740, Sichterman gifted her to Douwe Mout van der Meer, the captain of the Dutch ship the Knappenhof who took Clara to the Netherlands. Upon arrival in 1741, she caused a great sensation across Europe and became a royal favourite, commanding audiences among rulers as well as fascinated crowds. She even inspired a rage in Paris, where the wig-style à la rhinoceros came into vogue, and many poems were written about her. Also, many drawings and engravings, even coins with her depiction have survived.

Clara died in London at the age of twenty.

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C L ARA

Few animals created more of a stir in Europe

elephant, born in 1630, taken to Europe by the VOC and gifted to Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik of Orange in 1633, in response to a request for exotic animals. Many paid significant sums of money to see Hansken, and her wide array of ‘truken’ or tricks. The celebrated Rembrandt van Rijn was fascinated by Hansken and sketched the fantastic beast multiple times. The elephant changed ownership quite a few times, becoming ever more valuable. After visiting Hamburg, Copenhagen and Switzerland, she died in Florence in 1655.

Hansken (1630-1655), Showing her skills Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam (inv.no. RP-P-FM-1854)

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) Hansken, circa 1637 The British Museum (inv.no. Gg,2.259)

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HANS K E N

Another famous animal was Hansken, a female

QUE E N’S AS S

In July of 1762, a Zebra arrived in England as a gift for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz that would be known as the Queen’s Ass. The striped beast was a wedding gift from Sir Thomas Adams to Charlotte on the occasion of her marriage to George III a few months earlier. Because the zebra was unique, it was initially housed in the Tower of London. Several months later, in September, when a rare elephant arrived for the King, the two animals were housed together in the palace gardens. Although the creatures sparked great enthusiasm amongst the British, there was satire as well. The idea of an elephant and zebra being housed together seemed irresistible to some people. In fact, it resulted in a humorous penning of the following epigram:

Ye critics so learn’d, whence comes it to pass That the elephant wise should be plac’d by an ass?

This matter so strange I’ll unfold in a trice, Some asses of state stand in need of advice To screen them from justice, lest in an ill hour, In the elephant’s stead they be sent to the tower.

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George Stubbs (1724-1806) The First Zebra seen in England, 1763 Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (inv.no B1981.25.617)

GIR AF F E M ANIA

But the most famous magical

pointed out that the giraffe for the

creatures to come to Europe

English King George IV did not

were the young Nubian giraffes

have as long and prosperous a life

for France and England.

as theirs and was consequently

They

were captured at the same time

described

less

by Arab hunters in Sudan near

the

to

the barren lands of Sennar. First,

caricaturists and satirists quickly

they were taken on a camel’s

associated the sickly giraffe with

back to the Blue Nile’s shores,

the ailing king.

after which a felucca sailing boat

The French Constitutionnel of

transported them over this river

July 3rd, 1872 recounts that two

to Khartoum where they boarded

of the three giraffes reached the

a

barge

Pasha simultaneously, after which

to Alexandria down the Great

he offered them to the kings

Nile. The shores were lined with

of France and England. “The

people trying to catch a glimpse

Consuls of the two nations drew

of these fantastic animals, which

lots for their choice; the French

were

cows

consul had the good fortune to

replenishing them each day with

be favoured by chance, and his

25 litres of milk.

choice was a lucky one, for the

specially

constructed

accompanied

by

years

Camelopard

frequently follow.

destined

in

Indeed,

for

the

The giraffe for the English king

King of England is since dead.”

caused a true ‘giraffemania’ at the

However, this account is wrong

time, dominating news, fashion,

for this Camelopard was shipped

the arts and most important:

to Malta where it over-wintered

satire. Often mockingly the French

and was depicted by Charles

Frederick de Brocktorff. In May it

was cut through the deck above

finally boarded the ship Penelope

the cargo hold through which the

Malta to England, and it must have

giraffe could poke its head.

been a marvellous sight, for a hole

Jacques-Laurent Agasse (1767-1849) The Nubian Giraffe Royal Collection Trust (inv.no. RCIN 404394)

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Nicolas Huet II Study of the Giraffe Given to Charles X by the Viceroy of Egypt, 1827

spectacle. From Aix-en-Provance

France

groom

to Avignon, Orange, Montelimar

named Hassan and a Sudanese

and Vienne the rage for the giraffe

boy named Atir. After a voyage of

strengthened and word spread

32 days, she arrived in Marseilles

wide. Upon arrival in Lyon on

on the 31st of October. It was

June 6th, it was greeted by a

feared that the journey around the

crowd of 30,000 cheering people,

Iberian Peninsula, up the Atlantic

all hoping to get a glimpse of the

coast of France, and up the Seine

magnificent creature.

to Paris would be too dangerous,

Finally, on the 9th July, it was

so the decision was made that she

presented to the king at the

should travel the 900 kilometres

Château de Saint-Cloud. Standing

to Paris by foot. A good choice,

nearly four metres tall, Zarafa

since this probably strengthened

as she was christened by an

the young giraffe and gave it

adoring novelist in the 1980s,

many healthy years to come.

truly caused a sensation and over

It over-wintered in Marseilles

a 100,000 people came to gawp,

where it was charmingly provided

approximately an eighth of the

with a two-part yellow coat and

population of Paris at that time. La

shoes to keep its feet warm. On

mode à la Giraffe swept the nation;

May 20th, 1827 it set out to Paris,

hair was elaborated in towering

accompanied by Hassan and Atir,

styles, and spotted fabrics became

and of course the nourishing

a craze. The famous Belle Africaine

cows. The trip to the king took

lived another 18 years in Le Jardin

41 days, with the passing-through

des Plantes in Paris, before passing

of each village turning into a

away peacefully.

with

an

Arab

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B ELL E AF R ICAINE

The French giraffe was sent to

NE W HOBBY

The English giraffe arrived in

and until she arrived there was a

London by ship on August 11th,

general belief that descriptions of

1827, and was housed in the

the giraffe were partly fabulous.

menagerie of King George IV,

George IV, often criticized by

who is credited with establishing

contemporaries for his exuberant

a private zoo at the Sandpit

lifestyle, was so enamoured with

Gate of Windsor Great Park. His

his Camelopard, that he was often

menagerie

such

satirically depicted with it. One

“wapiti,

caricature showed the king seated

sambur, zebus, gnus, quaggas,

astride a high-stepping giraffe

Corine antelopes, llamas, wild

accompanied

swine, emus, ostriches, parrots,

Lady

and waterfowl. There was also

straw hat with a wide curving

an

brim and the lady a large bonnet,

exotic

consisted

creatures

‘enormous

showpiece

of

of

as

tortoise’.” his

The

collection,

with

by

Conyngham,

two

his

mistress

wearing

Nubians

a

bowing.

however, was the female Nubian

This satire alludes to the king’s

giraffe, also called ‘Camelopard’

ignorance of the problems of

young

the country and the Camelopard

with

being the talk of the town, as Lord

several care-keepers and cows

Marlborough wrote to the Times

that provided her with milk as

after its arrival: “Everybody was

this one too was young, only 18

so much engrossed by talking

months old, and ten and a half

of the Camelopard who has just

feet in height.” She was the first

arrived, that nothing else seemed

Giraffe ever seen in England,

to be thought of.”

by

the

specimen

English. arrived

“The along

William Heath (1794-1840), The Camelopard, or a new hobby, 1827 The British Museum (inv.no. 1868,0808.8815)

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William Heath (1794-1840) State of the Giraffe, circa 1829 Victoria&Albert Museum (inv.no. E.98-1923)

giraffes are accustomed to Africa’s

the talk of the town because from

warm and open savannah, not the

the beginning there was trouble.

cold and wet confines of a British

An artist commissioned to paint

zoo. Hence, two years after its

the English giraffe’s portrait now

arrival in England, the giraffe died,

noticed

having grown only 45 centimetres

that

its

lower

limbs

seemed deformed by injuries.

in

Investigation revealed that on the

obsessed with his giraffe, was

stage of its journey from Sennar to

terribly distraught over its death

Cairo on the back of a camel, the

and commissioned the taxidermist

wounds had been caused because

John Gould to stuff his recently

its legs were lashed together under

deceased pet. “The stuffer to the

the camel’s body. After two years,

Zoological Society, Mr Gould, has

it became very debilitated from

had the performing of his duty…

those early wounds and exercise

Soon after the Giraffe expired, De

became painful and problematic.

Ville, the modelist, was ordered

Someone came up with a plan

down to Windsor, by His Majesty,

to keep the animal moving, and

and took a cast of the animal.

a gigantic triangle on wheels

From this cast a wooden form was

was constructed in which “the

manufactured, on which the skin

creature was somehow secured

of the animal is now placed, and

each day and trundled round

which preserves its beauty to an

her paddock, the hooves just

extraordinary degree.” (The Times,

touching the ground.”

April 15, 1830)

Despite

this

kind

captivity.

treatment,

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King

George

IV,

STATE OF THE GIR AF F E

The state of the giraffe was indeed

John Doyle (1797-1868) Le Mort, 1829 Royal Collection Trust (inv.no. RCIN 751281)

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Images of these royal giraffes are rare and sought after because they give a glimpse of a long-lost world of wonder and discovery.

Nowadays a giraffe, or any other creature on the planet for that matter, is a mouse-click away.

But images like the one presented might

also

make

one

pause

for a second and realize how magnificent really is.

the

natural

world

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