One Open Spot in This Saturday's Raccoon Head Taxidermy Class with Rogue Taxidermist Katie Innamorato

We have a single open spot available for this Saturday's previously sold out raccoon head taxidermy class; if anyone out there is interested, please email morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com as soon as possible! The slot will go to the first respondent.

Full details follow:

Raccoon Head Taxidermy Class with Rogue Taxidermist Katie Innamorato
Date: This Saturday, February 9
Time: 11 – 5 PM
Admission: $350
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

This course will introduce students to basic and fundamental taxidermy techniques and procedures. Students will be working with donated raccoon skins and will be going through the steps to do a head mount. The class is only available to 5 students, allowing for more one on one interaction and assistance. Students will be working with tanned and lightly prepped skin; there will be no skinning of the animals in class. This is a great opportunity to learn the basic steps to small and large mammal taxidermy. All materials will be supplied by the instructor, and you will leave class with your own raccoon head mount.

Rogue taxidermist Katie Innamorato has a BFA in sculpture from SUNY New Paltz, has been featured on the hit TV show "Oddities," and has had her work featured at La Luz de Jesus gallery in Los Angeles, California. She is self and professionally taught, and has won multiple first place ribbons and awards at the Garden State Taxidermy Association Competition. Her work is focussed on displaying the cyclical connection between life and death and growth and decomposition. Katie is a member of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, and with all M.A.R.T. members she adheres to strict ethical guidelines when acquiring specimens and uses roadkill, scrap, and donated skins to create mounts.
Her website and blogs-
www.afterlifeanatomy.com
www.afterlifeanatomy.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/afterlifeanatomy
www.etsy.com/shop/afterlifeanatomy

More here.

ADDITIONAL CLASS ADDED Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class with Sue Jeiven, London, Last Tuesday Society, September 27, 1-5

Due to popular demand, we have just added one additional "Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class" to the month-long Morbid Anatomy Presents lineup at The Last Tuesday Society.

The new class will take place next Thursday, September 27th at 1:00 PM. No former taxidermy experience is required, and you need bring nothing; you will leave with your own taxidermied mouse set in a tableau, and the skills to create your own in the future; past student projects can be seen by clicking here. It must also be mentioned that Sue is a passionate and amazing teacher, and we have had nothing but excellent feedback about her class.

Class size is limited to 15, and this class tends to sell out very quickly--the first two we announced are already sold out!--so if interested, I suggest you purchase tickets straight away. You can do so by clicking here. Hope very much to see you there!

Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class  with Susan Jeiven
Dates: Thursday September 27 2012 
Cost: £60.00
Time: 1-5
Location: Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street London E8 4RP

Anthropomorphic taxidermy–the practice of mounting and displaying taxidermied animals as if they were humans or engaged in human activities–was a popular art form during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The best known practitioner of the art form is British taxidermist Walter Potter who displayed his pieces–which included such elaborate tableaux as The Death of Cock Robin, The Kitten Wedding, and The Kitten Tea Party–in his own museum of curiosities.

We invite you to join taxidermist, tattoo artist and educator Susan Jeiven for a beginners class in anthropomorphic taxidermy. All materials–including a mouse for each student–will be provided, and each class member will leave at the end of the day with their own anthropomorphic taxidermied mouse. Students are invited to bring any miniature items with which they might like to dress or decorate their new friend; some props and miniature clothing will also be provided by the teacher. A wide variety of sizes and colors of mice will be available.

No former taxidermy experience is required.

Also, some technical notes:

• We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.
• Everyone will be provided with gloves.
• All animals are disease free.
• Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone.
• All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class. All mice used are feeder animals for snakes and lizards and would literally be discarded if not sold.
• Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class

"Rogue Taxidermy Biennial Taxidermy Show;" La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, Through May 27th

I am very excited to announce a wonderful looking new exhibition curated by friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy and Minnesota Rogue Taxidermist Robert Marbury. With the ever increasing popularity of taxidermy in the fine arts world, this "Rogue Taxidermy Biennial Taxidermy Show"comes not a second too soon, and features the work of such creative-taxidermic luminaries as Sarina Brewer (top, "Sweet Dreams"), Adam Wallacavage, Jeanie M. (center, "Arabian Squirrel on a Flying Carpet"), Jessica Joslin, and our own Daisy Tainton (bottom, "A Patient's Despair"), teacher of Saturday's Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox workshop (more on that here).

If I was in Los Angeles, I would be on my way to see this right now! For those of you in the area, full info follows:

ROGUE TAXIDERMY
Our Biennial Taxidermy Show
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
May 4th – 27th, 2012

The Rogue Taxidermy 2012 Biennial, curated by Robert Marbury, features 25 of the most interesting artists working in taxidermy today. Rogue Taxidermy, a mixed-media art utilizing taxidermy materials, is more closely related to surrealism than to mainstream taxidermy. The work in this show spans genres and materials to expresses the individual artist's approach to and love of natural history and preservation.

There are some great photos from the opening here.
All members of the MINNESOTA ASSOCIATION OF ROGUE TAXIDERMISTS implicitly pledge by merit of their membership to abide by the following ethical regulations:

1. All members pledge to continually strive to make efficient use of the animals and parts of animals employed in the creation of their art. Wastefulness is strongly discouraged.

2. Animals shall be procured in a manner that does not require their termination for the explicit purpose of mounting or displaying. Collecting road-kill, accepting, purchasing animals from supply companies and from grocery stores are all considered to be acceptable, ethical means of procuring animals. Recycling and re-use are primary tenets of the association.

3. Please note that it is your responsibility to check with your local Department of Natural Resources and fish & wildlife authorities regarding your taxidermy activities. Be aware that endangered, threatened and protected species (including, but not exclusive to, raptors and songbirds) can only be mounted for museums and educational institutions providing all necessary permits. Roadkill is not excluded from these regulations. Additionally, in accordance with state and federal law, anything utilizing waterfowl, crows, or other restricted birds can only be mounted for the client who provides the animal with all attending permits.

4. If approached to create a custom mount which is generally considered to be a specialty of another M.A.R.T. member, it is strongly suggested that you recommend the services of that member to the potential customer before accepting the commission.

5. Members are greatly encouraged to participate in the care and conservation of living animals.

6. M.A.R.T. seeks to create an open dialogue about the place of animals in our culture. Protests, slander, and admonitions shall be greeted with an attempt to foster conversation. Reacting to criticism in a cruel or indignant way is considered antithetical to the M.A.R.T. mission statement.

You can find out more about this exhibiiton by clicking here. If you are interested in signing up for Daisy Tainton's class, click here for more.

Observatory's Anthropomorphic Taxidermy Class with Sue Jeiven in the International News!

The one-day workshop, which teaches students how to stuff dead mice and pose them up as if they were humans, is becoming a popular pastime in New York.

White-haired mice styled in tutus and polka dot hair bows; their spindly paws strumming miniature guitars - even reading the New York Times - were photographed in Ms Jeiven's class

An educator and tattoo artist, [Sue Jeiven] begins the four-hour lesson handing out the lifeless little creatures, having sucked out their blood with a syringe beforehand. A statement on the class website warns only feeder mice are used for the arts and crafts session.

But strange or morbid as it might seem to some, anthropomorphic taxidermy – the practice of mounting and displaying taxidermied animals as if they were humans or engaged in human activities – has a long and storied history, beginning with the most privileged classes.

It was a popular art form during the Victorian and Edwardian eras; the best known practitioner of the art form being British taxidermist Walter Potter, whose works included The Kitten Wedding and The Kitten Tea Party, which the mind immediately wants to imagine.

--"Is this the most bizarre art project ever? Taxidermy class teaches students how to stuff dead mice and pose them up 'as if they were humans'" Jennifer Madison, The Daily Mail

For anyone looking for that extra-authentic flavour to their fireplace display, Susan Jeiven's anthropomorphic taxidermy class might just the class you're looking for.

At the Morbid Academy, as Jeiven calls it, about 20 students learn to transform the bodies of dead white mice into human-like pantomimes. In one example, a white mouse holds a miniature classical guitar. In another, a mouse wearing a pink bow on its head reads a tiny facsimile of the New York Times.

--"Would you buy or make dead mouse art?" Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News

There are mice and men and, thanks to a macabre hobby, there are also mice that look like men.

Bent over tables in a room in an industrial corner of Brooklyn, about 20 New Yorkers use scalpels to slice into dead white mice, the first step in the animals’ unlikely journey toward an afterlife spent in human poses and dolls’ clothing.

Anthropomorphic taxidermy is an art form that became hugely popular in Britain in the 19th century, with Queen Victoria herself a fan. Now, as with many odd activities, it has found new life in Brooklyn.

“It’s a little immortality,” instructor Susan Jeiven, 40, explains at the start of her latest sold-out class.

--"Morbid Anatomy 101: Macabre hobby gives dead animals new life" Sebastian Smith, Ottawa Citizen

Congratulations to Sue Jeiven--our amazing anthropomorphic taxidermy teacher--for the recent flurry of international press surrounding her oft-sold out class excerpted above. You can read the whole Daily Mail article--from which all of the images and first excerpt above are drawn--by clicking here, the CBC News article by clicking here, and the Ottawa Citizen article by clicking here.

I am also very pleased to announce that we just added five new classes to our roster, and four of those still have vacancies. If you are interested in learning more--or better yet, signing up for one of Sue's incredible classes--click here. To find out more about the "Morbid Academy" Sue refers to (we call it The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy), click here. To watch a short video about Sue and her work, click here.

All images from the Daily Mail Article; ©AFP/Getty Images.

Four Open Slots for Tonight's Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class!

Four slots have just opened up for tonight's anthropomorphic mouse taxidermy class with Susan Jeiven class at Observatory! Full details follow; if interested in attending, please email me ASAP at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com. Emails will be considered in the order received.

Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class with Susan Jeiven: Back by Popular Demand
Date: TONIGHT Tuesday, November 29th
Time: 7 PM-11 PM
Admission: $60
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Anthropomorphic taxidermy–the practice of mounting and displaying taxidermied animals as if they were humans or engaged in human activities–was a popular art form during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The best known practitioner of the art form is British taxidermist Walter Potter who displayed his pieces–which included such elaborate tableaux as The Death of Cock Robin, The Kitten Wedding, and The Kitten Tea Party–in his own museum of curiosities.

Tonight, please join Morbid Anatomy and taxidermist, tattoo artist and educator Susan Jeiven for a beginners class in anthropomorphic taxidermy. All materials–including a mouse for each student–will be provided, and each class member will leave at the end of the day with their own anthropomorphic taxidermied mouse. Students are invited to bring any miniature items with which they might like to dress or decorate their new friend; some props and miniature clothing will also be provided by the teacher. A wide variety of sizes and colors of mice will be available.

No former taxidermy experience is required.

Also, some technical notes:

• We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.
• Everyone will be provided with gloves.
• All animals are disease free.
• Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone.
• All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class. All mice used are feeder animals for snakes and lizards and would literally be discarded if not sold.
• Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class

More information can be found here. Mouse shown above was created in our last class, created by attendee Ronni Ascagni. More mice from that class can be found here.

Comparative Death Rituals; Halloween and Day of the Dead Costume Party; A "Dead Animal Man: This week at Observatory!

This week and beyond at Observatory; hope very much to see you there!

"A Dead Animal Man": Screening and Q & A with Film Maker Lily Henderson
Date: Monday, October 17th
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

"A Dead Animal Man" is a new documentary film which profiles Nate Hill, public attention seeker and self-proclaimed rogue taxidermist, as he sets out to make A.D.A.M--A Dead Animal Man--from various animal parts gathered from NYC's Chinatown dumpsters. This film details Hill's quest from conception to completion, and contains vignettes ranging from the humourous to the bizarre to the extremely grotesque. At the end, Hill's desire for stardom is realized, but for what? The film saves us from extreme nausea but still pushes us far enough to the point where we ask ourselves--how far is too far?

Tonight, join us for a 25 minute sneak peak version of the film. Filmmakers will be in attendance to answer questions. Barf bags not included.

Lily Henderson is a filmmaker living in Brooklyn. She is an active member of the the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and recently released Lessons for the Living - a film about why certain people choose to spend their free time with dying strangers. More information can be found here. Henderson and her co-producer, Lila Dobbs, found Nate Hill's story intriguing but not because of the spectacle he was creating. Their goal was to find the deeper meaning in his public persona and the decaying Frankenstein body next to him.

From the Magnificent to the Macabre: Send-Offs for the Dead
Illustrated talk and book signing with Sarah Murray, author of Making an Exit
Date: Thursday, October 20th
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5 Presented by Morbid Anatomy
*** Thematic DJed after-party will follow the lecture; Books will be also available for sale and signing

Sending off the dead is something mankind does spectacularly well. There’s perhaps no human condition to which more attention has been devoted—faced with death, we create elaborate ceremonies and build great architectural edifices. We bury our loved ones in the ground or burn them in fire. We leave corpses as carrion for the birds, hang them in trees, or stow them in caves. We arrange for riderless horses to accompany the cortege to the cemetery or toss the remains of our fellows into sacred rivers amid the sound of bells and the swirl of incense.

In researching her latest book, Making an Exit (St Martin’s Press), Sarah Murray traveled the world in search of the best send offs. She will describe her encounters with everything from a spectacular Balinese royal cremation and a chandelier in the Czech Republic made entirely from human bones to the American death care industry’s biggest road show and a ghoulish Sicilian crypt where mummified corpses line the walls. Join Sarah for an engaging and highly personal discussion in which she will also present some of the unusual objects and artifacts she collected on her travels (she might even tell you about the plans for her own eventual send off).

Sarah Murray’s new book is Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre—How We Dignify the Dead (St Martin’s Press, October 2011). She is also author of Moveable Feasts: From Ancient Rome to the 21st Century, the Incredible Journeys of the Food We Eat (St Martin’s Press 2007, Picador 2008). A longtime Financial Times contributor and freelance writer, she lives in New York City.

Image: Capuchin Catacombs in Sicily, photo by the author

Halloween and Day of the Dead Party with New Episodes of Ghoul A Go-Go and The Midnight Archive, Costume Contest, Music, and More!
Date: Saturday, October 22
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $12
Presented by Morbid Anatomy and Borderline Projects

Please join us on Saturday, October 22 for a Halloween/Day of the Dead costume party featuring brand new episodes of Ghoul A Go-Go and The Midnight Archive, as well as burlesque, music, piñata, food, beverages, sugar skulls, a costume contest, and more! Please, please (!!!) come in costume! All costumes welcomed!

The night's amusements will include:

ENTERTAINMENT!

• Ghoul a Go Go: Premiere of a brand new episode
• The Midnight Archive: Two new episodes of The Midnight Archive, Ronni Thomas' new web series based on Observatory
• Music: Wavy gravy Halloween music for the all night dance party
• Burlesque: A creepy Burlesque performance by Lil' Miss Lixx
  

FOOD AND DRINK!

• Traditional Food and Drink Specials throughout the evening
  

COSTUME CONTEST!

• Prizes for costumes inspired by either Vlad, Creighton, The Invisible Man, or any of the clips featured on Ghoul a Go Go

TRADITIONAL DAY OF THE DEAD ATTRACTIONS!

• Day of the Dead Altar: Altar de Muertos, an installation by Rebeca and Salvador Olguin celebrating Mexico and its past, history and culture
• Face painting: Have the Kiss of Death painted on your face by La Catrina
• Pan de Muerto: Indulge in this traditional dessert called Bread of Death
• Piñata: Dash death to smithereens with our annual death piñata!
• Sugar skulls: Decorate and eat or bring home your own Day of the Dead sugar skull
• Offerings to the Departed: In some places in Mexico, people leave small, coffin-like figures out for the souls of the departed. Guests are invited to leave their own offering; they will be available at the installation

Image: El Jarabe en Ultratumba (The Folk Dance Beyond the Grave), Jose Guadalupe Posada

October 24: Freaks and Pornography: Victorian Popular Anatomy Museums, Sex and the Unusual Body: Illustrated talk with author Sarah Kathryn York

November 6: Class: Mummification: Learn the art and ritual of animal mummification with instructor Sorceress Cagliastro *** Limited Class Size; Please RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com

To be alerted to future events, "like" Morbid Anatomy on Facebook by clicking here or sign up for the Observatory mailer by clicking here. More on all events here. You can find out more about these events by clicking here.

Walter Potter's Museum Video Newsreel, British Pathé, 1955

This is truly an embarrassment of riches. A second film record of Walter Potter's museum of curious taxidermy (see first one here), from the British Pathé website, this one from 1955. Click on the image to view the film!

Caption reads:

Bramber, Sussex.

M/S Walter Collins, grandson of original owner Walter Potter, arranging kittens which are all dressed in wedding clothes. A cat's wedding tableau. C/U Walter Collins with a cup from the kitten's tea party. He gives it a clean and then gives the whole tableaux a clean with a brush. (The narration says that he gives the collection two cleans a year to keep them in good condition)

C/U Walter cleaning the rats from "The Rat's Gambling Den Raid". C/U shots stuffed rats playing cards and dominoes. C/U shots of rabbits' village school. All the rabbits are in different poses at their desks with pens or books and some have different expressions on their faces.

Note: Potter's Museum is a bizarre collection from the Victorian period of mainly stuffed animals.

Thanks so much, Live in Your Head, for sending this one my way! Let this bring cheers to my compatriots on the East Coast who are weathering a hurricane right now!

Walter Potter's Museum of Curious Taxidermy on Film, Circa 1965!

Some of you might remember seeing a post or two here on Morbid Anatomy devoted to the inspired work of Victorian anthropomorphic taxidermist Walter Potter. I have long been a huge fan of his work, but until now, I had no idea that there existed a circa 1965 film documenting a visit to his museum which was, sadly, broken up at auction a few years ago.

All I have to say is WOW.

Thanks so much to Lee Unkrich for sending this to me!

Amazing Taxidermy Books Alert: New Stock of "Walter Potter" and "History of Taxidermy" Books Now Available for Sale!

Morbid Anatomy now has several additional copies of taxidermy collector/historian Pat Morris' lavishly illustrated taxidermic tomes A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste and Walter Potter and his Museum of Taxidermy in stock and available for immediate sale.

Morris' new and encylopedic History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste (pictured above in images 1-3) is an extensive (nearly 400 pages), large-format, and lavishly illustrated 4-color tome that details the entire history of the art, science, and sometimes questionable trends of taxidermy. This thoroughly-researched and liberally illustrated text discusses the earliest historical pieces, collections public and private, changing techniques throughout its history, human taxidermy (such as shrunken heads, Jeremy Bentham and other examples), anthropomorphic taxidermy and its roots at The Great Exhibition of 1851, the taxidermy and natural history craze of the 19th century, taxidermic kitsch, gentleman country house collections, and much, much, much more.

Morris' other book (images 4-9) details the life and work of Walter Potter, the undisputed king of Victorian anthropomorphic taxidermy and artist behind unforgettable taxidermic tableaux depicting kitten tea parties, bunny schoolhouses, kitten croquet matches and more, not to mention founder of a museum dedicated to his own curious pieces. The book, entitled Walter Potter and his Museum of Taxidermy is large-format, full-color, and features scores of nearly impossible-to-find photographs of Potter's unforgettable works, archival photographs of the early museum, and antique and vintage ephemera related to the museum. The book is also extremely well researched, providing a through biography or Mr Potter, a detailed history of his museum of curious taxidermy, and the stories behind the making of his iconic pieces of anthropomorphic taxidermy.

You can find out more about these books--and order copies of them--by clicking here. But supplies are limited, so order quickly!

New Lot of Amazing, Lavishly Illustrated, Hard-to-Find Books on Victorian Anthropomorphic Taxidermist Walter Potter for Sale!

For those of you who, like I, are fascinated by the kitten tea parties, bunny schoolhouses, and kitten croquet matches of the undisputed king of Victorian anthropomorphic taxidermy Walter Potter, I have good news! Henceforth, Morbid Anatomy will be distributing the amazing (and very difficult to find!) book Walter Potter and his Museum of Taxidermy written and published by collector and taxidermy scholar Pat Morris.

There are two versions of the book available: the hardcover (see top image)--which sports a handsome stamped canvas cover and an extra signature of 8 full-color pages--and the paperback (see second image down). Both versions are large scale and lavishly illustrated in full-color with scores of nearly impossible-to-find photographs of Potter's unforgettable works, archival photographs of the early museum, and antique and vintage ephemera related to the museum (see bottom two images for examples; click on image to see larger size). The book is also extremely well researched, providing a through biography or Mr Potter, a detailed history of his museum of curious taxidermy, and the stories behind the making of his iconic pieces of anthropomorphic taxidermy.

Books can be purchased on Amazon.com; click here to purchase the hardcover, which goes for $50, and here to purchase the soft cover, which goes for $35. But order quickly: I only have about 8 hardback remaining, and 7 paperback, and these books tend to sell out fast!

And one more thing: I am also distributing the paperback version of Pat Morris' new book A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste; you can find out more about this book by clicking here. if you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, you can email me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

5th-Annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest, Tuesday, December 7, The Bell House, Brooklyn

This just announced: the 5th-Annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest is scheduled (December 7th at the Bell House) and is seeking contestants! Eligible entries include (in the words of thepress release) "taxidermy (bought, found, or homemade), biological oddities, articulated skeletons, skulls, jarred specimens—and beyond, way beyond..."

To add to the excitement, this year, our friend Mike Zohn--Obscura Antiques and Oddities co-proprietor, new reality show celebrity, and 2007's Carnivorous Nights champion will be a judge and speaker.

Full details follow; so enter away, and hope to see you there, either on stage or in the audience!

The Secret Science Club's 5th-Annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest
Date: Tuesday, December 7
Time: 8 PM
Location: The Bell House
(149 7th St., between 2nd and 3rd avenues in Gowanus, Brooklyn)

The The beasts are back!
Calling all science geeks, nature freaks, and rogue geniuses!

Your stuffed squirrel got game? Got a beaver in your brownstone? Bring your beloved beast to the Bell House and enter it to win at the 5th-annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest.

Eligible for prizes: Taxidermy (bought, found, or homemade), biological oddities, articulated skeletons, skulls, jarred specimens—and beyond, way beyond

Plus!
--Spectators are invited to cheer on their favorite specimens
--Groove to taxidermy-inspired tunes & video
--Imbibe ferocious specialty drinks!
--Prizes will be awarded by our panel of savage taxidermy enthusiasts!

Entrants: Contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com to pre-register. Share your taxidermy (and its tale) with the world!

Don't miss this beastly event on Tuesday, December 7, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F to 4th Ave; R to 9th St; F or G to Smith/9th

More here. The image you see above is the Pope Mouse by Mouse Angel/Jeanie M. You can purchase your very own Pope Mouse--or Angel, or Punker Rocker, or Mousealope, or Hamlet (!) at The Morbid Anatomy Library; click here or email me here for details.

Image credit: The wonderful blog Crappy Taxidermy.

"Genius or Grotesquery? The Arrestingly Strange World of Walter Potter," The Museum of Everything, Exhibition # 3

The wild and eerie Victorian world of Walter Potter, where baby rabbits go to school and weep over their blotted copybooks, and where Bullingdon Club-style squirrels puff on cigars as toads play leapfrog and rat police raid a drinking den, is being reassembled in London, seven years after his creatures were sold and scattered across the world.

The displays are being assembled at the reopened Museum of Everything, a pop-up museum in a former Victorian dairy, and later recording studio, in Primrose Hill, London...

Whilst in London last week, I had the very good fortune to attend a preview of The Museum of Everything's "Exhibition #3," a carnivalesque spree exploring all things collectory, side-show, circus, grotto, and taxidermological. One of the exhibitions more impressive achievements--and the reason I was there in the first place--was the attempt to re-stage Victorian anthropomorphic taxidermist Walter Potter's Victorian museum of curiosities, a noble feat achieved by borrowing an assortment of Potter's charming pieces from the assortment of lucky private collectors--including Damien Hirst, Sir Peter Blake, and Pat Morris--who acquired them after the museum was controversially divided at auction in 2003.

Today's Guardian has run what I hope will be only the first of many ecstatic pieces on this wonderful exhibition, and on the Potter portion in particular, entitled "Genius or grotesquery? The arrestingly strange world of Walter Potter."

My friend Pat Morris--who spoke on Walter Potter at our recent Congress for Curious People-- loaned several of his own Potter pieces to the exhibition, most notably "The Death of Cock Robin, a truly epic tableaux depicting the funeral procession of the fabled Cock Robin as recounted in the well-known Englist nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin." This spectacular piece, as the Guardian describes, includes "more than 100 birds including a weeping robin widow and an owl gravedigger who has tumbled some tiny bones out of the soil while preparing space for the dead robin." For a visual (but please note: this image simply does not do the piece justice!), see third image down.

Besides being a collector of great proportion, Mr. Morris is also the author of the only extant book on Mr. Potter and his work, the lavishly illustrated and encyclopedic Walter Potter and His Museum of Curious Taxidermy, which you can buy in hardback or paperback by clicking here or here, respectively. You can also find out more about Potter, his work and his history by visiting the Ravishing Beast website by clicking here. You can read the full Genius or grotesquery?" article on the Guardian website by clicking here. To find out more about this exhibition--which will be on at least till Christmas--and the very curious Museum of Everything, click here.

Thanks to friend, friend-of-the-blog, and many time Observatory lecturer John Troyer for alerting me to this article!

The Taxidermy of Mr. Walter Potter and his Museum of Curiosities, Melissa Milgrom

Melissa Milgrom--author of Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy and panelist at the recent Congress for Curious People--has just published a nice article about that undisputed king of Victorian anthropomorhic taxidermy, animal artist and museologoist Walter Potter; following is a brief excerpt:

Athletic toads? Rats gambling in a dollhouse of decadence? How about bespectacled gentlemen lobsters?

No, this isn’t Wes Anderson’s sequel to Fantastic Mr. Fox, but the work of English Victorian taxidermist Mr. Walter Potter. Potter was famous for his over-the-top anthropomorphic scenes—kittens at the tea table; guinea pigs playing cricket—which were displayed in his Museum of Curiosities from 1861 until 2003 when his wondrous collection was sold in a contentious auction, which I attended in Cornwall.

One of England’s oldest private museums, Potter’s belonged to the era of the amateur nature lover when museums were spirited jumbles, not the sober typologies they would become post-Darwin. Potter’s verged on the freakish: random, cluttered, crammed to the rafters with curios and oddities, weird accumulations and creatures that were stuffed, pickled, dissected, and deformed. And I was lucky, though it filled me with sadness, to wander through Potter’s crooked corridors on its very last day...

Had Potter attended the Great Expo (very likely) he would have seen among the taxidermy displays a comic depiction of Goethe’s fable Reinecke the Fox reenacted with semi-human foxes. Sounds childlike—and it was in the best, most passionate way—but in the days before irony anthropomorphism was a form of endearment (imagine Beatrix Potter, no relation). More so, the facial expressions were expertly manipulated, raising the taxidermic bar and inspiring followers.

Known as the Grotesque School, “mirth-provoking” characters were the equivalent of a blockbuster movie. Queen Victoria herself stopped to linger and laugh at a frog shaving another frog. And taxidermists began transforming all sorts of animals into tiny humans: crows playing violin, frogs doing the cancan, squirrels as Romeo. None were as ambitious as Mr. Walker Potter...

You can read the full article on the Wonders and Marvels blog by clicking here. You can find out more about Milgrom's Still Life--which contains a nice discussion of Potter and his work--by clicking here. If the life and work of Walter Potter is of interest, I also highly highly recommend that you check out the wonderful, lavishly-illustrated Walter Potter and his Museum of Curious Taxidermy, written by Congress for Curious People lecturer Pat Morris; you can do so by clicking here or by visiting Observatory (more on that here).

All images are of Walter Potter's work and are drawn from the wonderful Ravishing Beasts blog; you can see them in context by clicking here.

"The Rogue Taxidermy Kunstkammer," The Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles

This just in from Congress for Curious People participant and Friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy Robert Marbury; if I was in the greater Los Angeles area, I'd surely be there:

The Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists proudly presents The Rogue Taxidermy Kunstkammer
Our contemporary culture has seen a growing interest in taxidermy fueled by the internet, ambivalence about the food industry, and concerns over animal extinction. The representation of animal form is wide-ranging, and this exhibition presents the first major group show of Rogue Taxidermy. Rogue Taxidermy, a mixed-media art utilizing taxidermy materials, is more closely related to Surrealism than to mainstream taxidermy. Ranging from the macabre to the sublime, this exhibition explores the Borgesian imaginary made real.

Featuring:
SCOTT A. A. BIBUS
SARINA BREWER
MELISSA DIXON
ENRIQUE GOMEZ DE MOLINA
JESSICA JOSLIN
JEANIE M
ROBERT MARBURY
ELIZABETH MCGRATH
ALAN WADZINSKI
BROOKE WESTON
MIRMY WINN

The Show runs May 7th - May 30th

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday May 7th, 8pm-11pm

SQUIRREL MASTERCLASS/GAMEFEED
This event will include a taxidermy demo, followed by Squirrel Chili. A vegan "Mock-Squirrel" Chili will also be available. Sponsored by Schmaltz Brewing Company.
Saturday May 8th 6pm-10pm

LA LUZ DE JESUS
4633 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90027
Phone: 323-666_7667
www.laluzdejesus.com

* All members adhere to a strict ethics charter. Only animals procured in an ethical and environmentally responsible manner were used, and none of the animals were killed for the purpose of this artwork.
* A portion of the proceeds of this show will be given to a local wildlife rehabilitation center.

For more information, check out the La Luz de Jesus website by clicking here. You can find out more about The Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists by clicking here. Click on image to see larger version.

"A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste," An Illustrated Presentation By Dr. Pat Morris, Congress for Curious People, Coney Island Museum

Tonight is night four of the Congress for Curious People! To celebrate, come to the Coney Island Museum at 7:00 PM to see Pat Morris--British biologist, collector, and self-publisher of several books on taxidermy--as he parses the world of taxidermy and asks, in a heavily illustrated lecture "is taxidermy art, science, or bad taste?"

Pat Morris is a specialist on taxidermy of all sorts, and has literally written the book on Walter Potter, my favorite Victorian taxidermist, who's incredible tableaux "The Kitten Tea Party" and "The Death of Cock Robin (top and third down, respectively) you see above. Tonight his lecture will focus on the work and curiosity collection of Mr. Potter; he will also be selling (and signing, if you wish!) his difficult-to-come-by and amazing heavily-illustrated books about Potter's work, life, and curiosity collection. Also, there will be half-price drinks at the bar till 7!

Do you need further enticing to get you down to Coney Island tonight?

Full details follow; hope to see you there!

A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste
An Illustrated Presentation By Dr. Pat Morris, Royal Holloway, University of London
Date: Thursday, April 15th
Time: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: The Coney Island Museum
Should taxidermy be viewed as art, science, or bad taste? And why is it so interesting? Dr. Pat Morris’ illustrated lecture “A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste” will explore these topics and more. His talk will range over the history of stuffed animals, considering how a small-time taxidermist business operated in the 19th century and exploring the many diverse and amusing uses of taxidermy and the taxidermist’s products ranging from major museum exhibits to stuffed pets, hunting trophies, animal furniture, kitten weddings (see above, Walter Potter, circa 1890s), frogs eating spaghetti and squirrels playing cards. He will discuss in detail the work of anthropomorphic taxidermist Walter Potter and his eponymous “Museum of Curiosities,” as detailed in his own lavishly illustrated book on that topic, which will be available for sale at the lecture.

Dr. Pat Morris is a retired staff member of Royal Holloway College (University of London), where he taught biology undergraduates and supervised research on mammal ecology. In that capacity he has published many books and scientific papers and featured regularly in radio and TV broadcasts. The history of taxidermy has been a lifelong hobby interest and he has published academic papers and several books on the subject. With his wife Mary he has travelled widely, including most of Europe and the USA, seeking interesting taxidermy specimens and stories. They live in England where their house is home to the largest collection and archive of historical taxidermy in Britain.

To find out more about this event and the larger Congress of Curious Peoples--including nightly performances and the epic opening night party--click here. For more about the Congress for Curious People, click here. Click on image or click here to download a hi-res copy of the above broadside. For information about the Coney Island Museum--including address and directions--click here.

"The Brading Collection of Taxidermy, Waxworks, Costume and Similar Items," Duke's Auction House, Dorset, April 13th (Today!)

From the outside, it's an unremarkable industrial warehouse, home to Duke's Auction House. But the stench of turpentine marks it out from the other buildings on the Grove Industrial Estate in Dorchester, Dorset. It's the first clue that inside lurks a haven of Victorian taxidermy.

Step in, and you'll see a Bengali tiger on its hind legs, 8ft tall, lunging claws-first (and canines first) towards you. Behind him is a peacock, glorious tail splayed behind it.

To the right are three zebras, a camel, baby rhinoceros and seven lions, the lioness twisted on the ground, sinking her incisors into a bloodied antelope. All in all, there are 250 animals, many of which are the treasures of an eccentric 19th-century professor and explorer.

Elsewhere are grotesque figures: shrunken monkey heads on spikes, Siamese lambs conjoined at the head, a velvet coffin with the body of a 16-year-old Congolese boy (complete with an elephant's head stitched to his corpse), and dozens of glass-eyed waxworks with liver- spotted skin or daggers plunging into their chests.

Oh, and a blue dress once worn by Princess Diana.

Today's auction--marking the dispersal of the Brading Experience, a former museum on the Isle of Wight in England and handled by Duke's auction house in Dorset--will also include scores of waxworks featured at the museum for decades, among them "a waxwork of a whitehaired tramp wearing loose fitting rags" and "a half-length waxwork of a torso with a knife plunged into his chest," not to mention the epic taxidermy you see above, and much, much more.

The above quote and images are from the Daily Mail, which featured a well-illustrated article about the auction; You can read the full article--"Yetis, unicorns and even flying kittens: Inside the worlds zaniest zoo"--by clicking here. You can view the entire catalog of sale items--prepare to be astounded!--here. You can find out more about Duke's auction house by clicking here.

Wish I lived in England right now...

P.S. If this topic interests you, then you won't want to miss tonight's lecture by Robert Marbury at the Coney Island Museum, entitled "A Rogue’s Approach to Stuffing It: Taxidermy in Contemporary Pop, Art and Sub-Cultures" at 7:00 PM! Click here for details.

Super Sunday Brooklyn Lineup: This Sunday, November 15th

This Sunday, November 15th is going to be a big day in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. First up, at 6:00 PM, Observatory will be hosting an illustrated lecture entitled “Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius” by author Colin Dickey. Dickey will discuss "the history of skull thefts and the motivations of their perpetrators, as well as tracing the long and bizarre odysseys of several famous heads, including those of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Sir Thomas Browne." Copies of his book of the same name will be available for purchase and signing.

Next up--and stumbling distance away--The Secret Science Club will be hosting their 4th-annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest at the Bell House at 8 PM, where spectators will be able to cheer on Obscura Antiques and Oddities co-owner Mike Zohn as he defends his hard-won championship garnered back in 2007; click here for a full report on that contest. Entry fee is waived for contestants, so bring along, in the words of the call for entries, your "beloved moose head, stuffed albino squirrel, sinuous snake skeletons, jarred sea slugs, and other specimens" and save $4.

This leads me to my humble proposition to you for a Gowanus-centric Sunday: why not begin your day's festivities at Observatory and join us in a group pilgrimage to the Bell House in time for the Secret Science Club Taxidermy Contest? To have 2 such wonderful events back to back--both $5 or under, both book related, and both simultaneously of an educational and a spectacular nature, with both also including alcohol (!!) and, best of all, walking distance of one another--is a rare treat indeed. I also offer to personally lead the way from Observatory to Bell House, so no-one need fear becoming lost forever in the toxic wilds of the Gowanus.

Full details on both events follow:

Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius
Date: Sunday, November 15th
Time: 6:00 PM, Doors at 5:00 PM
Admission: $5
Address: Observatory: 543 Union Street (at Nevins), Brooklyn, NY 11215 (View Map)
By Colin Dickey, author of “Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius” (copies of the book will be available for sale)

With the rise of phrenology, the early 19th century saw a host of bizarre grave robberies, in which the graves of famous men were plundered for their owners’ skulls. Both scientific curiosities and morbid fetishes, the skulls became subject to extended legal battles between religious and secular authorities over who owns these remains, while phrenologists continued to study them for visible proof of genius. Colin Dickey will discuss the history of these skull thefts and the motivations of their perpetrators, as well as tracing the long and bizarre odysseys of several famous heads, including those of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Sir Thomas Browne, who had famously written what a “tragical abomination” it is to be “gnawed out of one’s grave,” some 150 years before his own skull was plundered in 1840. Copies of his book, “Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius,” will also be available for sale and signing.

Colin Dickey is the author of Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius, and the co-editor (with Nicole Antebi and Robby Herbst) of Failure! Experiments in Aesthetic and Social Practices. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Cabinet, TriQuarterly, and The Santa Monica Review. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives in Los Angeles.

Directions
543 Union Street (at Nevins), Brooklyn, NY 11215

Enter Observatory via Proteus Gowanus Gallery

R or M train to Union Street in Brooklyn: Walk two long blocks on Union (towards the Gowanus Canal) to Nevins Street. 543 Union Street is the large red brick building on right. Go right on Nevins and left down alley through large black gates. Gallery is the second door on the left.

F or G train to Carroll Street: Walk one block to Union. Turn right, walk two long blocks on Union towards the Gowanus Canal, cross the bridge, take left on Nevins, go down the alley to the second door on the left.

The 4th-annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest
Hosted by the Secret Science Club @ the Bell House
Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009
Time: Doors open 7:30 pm, Taxidermy talk at 8 pm. Contest at 8:30 pm
Admission: $4
Address: The Bell House: 149 7th Street, Brooklyn NY 11215 (View Map)

• Calling all science geeks, nature freaks, and other rogue geniuses! Enter your taxidermy to win!

• Show off your beloved moose head, stuffed albino squirrel, sinuous snake skeletons, jarred sea slugs, and other specimens. Compete for prizes and glory!

• The contest will be judged by our panel of savage taxidermy enthusiasts, including Robert Marbury, co-founder of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, and Dorian Devins, WFMU DJ and Secret Science Club co-curator

• Prizes for best stuffed creature, most interesting biological oddity, and more!

• Don’t miss the feral taxidermy talk by beast mistress Melissa Milgrom, author of the forthcoming book, Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy

• Plus:

◦ Groove to taxidermy-inspired tunes and video

◦ Imbibe ferocious specialty drinks!

Contest Rules
The contest is open to taxidermy (homemade, purchased, found), preserved and jarred specimens, skeletons, skulls, gaffs… and beyond. (Note: Wet specimens must remain in their jars.)

Entrants: Please contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com to pre-register, and arrive at 7 pm on the night of the contest to log in your beast or specimen. Share your taxidermy (and its tale) with the world!

Spectators are invited to cheer their favorite specimens.

Where: The Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues), Gowanus, Brooklyn. p: 718.643.6510 Subway: F to 4th Ave; R to 9th St; F or G to Smith/9th

When: Sunday 11/15/09. Doors and pre-show at 7:30 pm. Taxidermy talk at 8 pm. Contest at 8:30 pm!

Cover: $4 (waived for entrants)

Contest Background: The Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest is hosted by the Secret Science Club, an organization dedicated to exploring scientific discoveries and potent potables. The contest was started in 2005 by Secret Science Club co-curators Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson to shamelessly promote their taxidermy-inspired book Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger. The event has since taken on a life of its own, with first-year winners Andrew Templar and Jim Carden—co-owners of the Bell House—now providing a permanent home for this beastly annual smack-down.

To learn more, visit the Secret Science Club at http://secretscienceclub.blogspot.com

More info by clicking here.

Hope you can make it!

More on Observatory here; directions to Observatory can be found by clicking here. More on The Secret Science club here. You can find out more about Obscura Antiques and Oddities by clicking here.

Box factory photo (which houses Observatory and the Morbid Anatomy Library) found here; Squirrel Photo: Taken by and shown in a slideshow presentation by Brian Wiprud, the author who wrote Stuffed, Pipsqueak, and Tailed, books about adventure.