Ravishing Beasts is a site devoted to taxidermy through the ages. Of particular interest is the section on theatrical taxidermy, which includes such antiquated marvels as the Kitten Tea Party and Kitten Wedding. The latter is described thus:
Completed in 1898, “The Kitten Wedding” was Walter Potter’s last large work (although he was working on squirrel court scene before his stroke in 1914) and the only one in which the animals are dressed. The lady kittens have cream brocade gowns, frilly knickers, gaudy beads and earrings. The bride has a brass ring on her finger, and the groomsmen sport wild woolly heads and morning suits. The whole scene includes eighteen kittens with enormous, bulging eyes, a parson, an altar, and a rail.
Other oddities of note include boxing squirrels, hedonistic chipmunks and a menagerie of fraudulent beasts.
(h/t, Coudal.)
“Seventeen taxidermied kittens with oversized glass eyes and stretched mouths sit around an elaborately laid table pouring tea and offering each other cake on tiny china plates.”
http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/gallery/theatrical-taxidermy/601873
Lovely.
It’s sort of Beatrix Potter meets Dr Moreau.
I’m afraid my enjoyment of this ends when I consider how he probably obtained the kittens.
Sshh. Don’t spoil the magic.
“I’m afraid my enjoyment of this ends when I consider how he probably obtained the kittens.”
They left their bodies to medical science, using tiny doner cards.
Didn’t they..?
That taxidermy site is well named, btw. One for the bookmarks folder, especially since I just bought the engrossing ‘Windows on Nature’:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Nature-Stephen-Christopher-Quinn/dp/0810959402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213632924&sr=8-1
The kittens were executed by the Chinese government for clawing the furniture , spraying outside the litter box or taking more than their share of kibbles. They were then injected with a special preservative polymer and displayed minus skin and fur in various “action” poses–e.g., playing with yarn, drinking milk, catching birds. A very popular exhibition. In due course, government functionaries discovered they could also find buyers for the hides, as well, hence the present object of our attention.
IF I was Buddhist I would think that David will be reincarnated as a soon-to-be taxidermied kitten.