Diorama making at the Field Museum

[TAB]

I try and look at the taxi forums a couple of times a week it is a great source of information for me.  Yes our diorama halls do get used for all kinds of photo shoots and of course movies. As long as no damage occurs the Museum gets exposure which is a good thing.
 We Have been doing major seismic work over the last 4 years on the original 1913 building and parts of the 1920. During this period we have had to close a good deal of our exhibit area with our diorama halls a major portion of our open exhibit space. I did have to remove Currently we have three new major halls in design and production. The Age of Mammals hall 2010, A Dinosaur Hall 2011 and Under the Sun ( California history) 2012.  So there is alot going on out here in addition to dioramas. Steven we do have a couple of small publications that you may not have regarding our diorama program.  Some time before I retire I hope to write a history of our program.

Tim

[John Bellucci]

Thanks for the picture John. Perhaps if dioramas are discussed and mentioned as art pieces on here and other sites the general public may be more in tune with the gems that they are.

I was hoping TAB would respond as there needs to be more advocates in already established museums. Unfortunately with the elimination of taxidermists at most large museums, the next line of defence are those who have a passion for them but are assigned to the scientific sections. As far as I know the largest exhibit natural history museums (as outline in this post I made many years ago)  http://www.taxidermy.net/forums/IndustryArticles/03/k/038F40F0B.html
have VERY few actual taxidermists on site, and a few are eliminating the exhibits department all together because of budget problems.

Perhaps one of the underling problems is that museum taxidermists of old (those creating exhibits from circa 1910 through 1970 or so) were just TOO good. The mounted specimens from this era done by a first rate taxidermist often look as good as one created today. Granted, if you shine a flashlight up the nose you won't see blood vessels, but the overall mount, habitat and background painting are truly works of art. Critically, one can pick on small items not under control of the taxidermist - like the availability of compounds we have today, or the improved tanning methods, or even the lack of good reference pictures, but from my perspective they did a great job.

Walking through a diorama hall and looking at the pieces with another passionate taxidermist interested in the history of taxidermy is about as good as it gets. Unfortunately, most of the few there are, can't afford that luxury.

John - do you have a copy of Karen Wonders 1993 book?

No, I do not have a copy.  Having found one on Amazon, I was a bit taken aback by the list price.  

I did discover and purchase a copy of Stephen C. Quinn's "Windows On Nature - The Great Habitat Dioramas of The American Museum of Natural History".  I was like a kid at Christmas when I got my hands on that book!

I am one of the staunchest defenders of the work and methods of the "Masters".  Others here can say what they like about the "latest and greatest" this, that, or the other thing, but what I always come back to is LONGEVITY!  To me, that is the ultimate test of great Taxidermy.  What do all the new bells and whistles do over the test of time.  

It is, for these reasons, I choose to stay with Dexterine hide paste over the new rage - vinyl paste made for vinyl wall and floor coverings - aka: "VOV" ... Vinyl On Vinyl.  The old reliable Dexterine hide paste has kept a secure bond of hide-to-mannikin at the AMNH, as well as my mounts ... albeit for a much longer span of time than my mounts!  

True, I too use urethane headforms and mannikins ... not much choice there, and I do use commercial earliners in my commercial Deer mounts and not sheet lead, and in all other specimens I either make my own, or use those developed by Gary Zehner.  I use our modern glass eyes, and for me ... glass eyes only.  In my work, I strive to uphold the standards of the Masters who paved the way in this field, and have the greatest respect for what they did, and constantly try to emulate their practices.

Yeah, I am huge into the history of Taxidermy.  I agree ... to look at the "old" - for lack of a better term - Taxidermy specimens in the great museums, one absolutely has to marvel at the accomplishments made with the limited resources of the times.  This is where a deep and affectionate appreciation for this work must be maintained.  

To crack wise about them is misinformed at best, and completely uneducated and disrespectful at worst.  To assume knowledge of what they might have been thinking is the pinnacle of arrogance.  

What those men created - including Carl Akeley with his Akeley Camera for capturing images as none before - is a testament to the importance they placed on their work, which was all that mattered.  They recognized the weight of and the import of what they were creating and the reasons why they were creating these works.  

It's a shame that this understanding and vision is so lost among so many of today's practitioners!  You can never know where you are going until you understand where you have been.

John.

[Bill Yox]

Sadly, yet understandibly, some of us taxidermists are likely to be the only people really interested in the history, or who did these works, or just how important they ought to be considered. Its just how it is.

I wish I had every book that illustrates our taxidermy past, no doubt. Id give BOTH my nuts and borrow a third to give for the op to work in a museum taxidermist position.

[TAB]

I have to say one of the neat things about working in a place like this is that if I need inspiration all I have to do is go downstairs and walk through our diorama halls. The work inspired me as a kid and it still does today.

Tim

[John Bellucci]

I have to say one of the neat things about working in a place like this is that if I need inspiration all I have to do is go downstairs and walk through our diorama halls. The work inspired me as a kid and it still does today.

Tim

Precisely how I feel about the works at the AMNH.  When I am there, I am in Nirvana!!!  To this day, I can still just stare at the photos in my files of the work created there, and those all to important progress photos taken by the museums.  Absolute Nirvana!

John.

[PA]

Mr. Yox, unfortunately there really isn't any more positions titled "Museum Taxidermist", so you can save your nuts to be used as they were intended. Paul Rhymer was eliminated recently at the NMNH, Dave Schwendeman (the elder) left the AMNH about 1987, I don't believe the FMNH has had a taxidermist since at least 1990 (they had contracted Gregg Septon that year to do some birds when Dave Schwendeman the younger and I visited there for a SPNCH meeting), and most the museums on the East Coast don't have that position (Harvard, Yale Peabody) but still may employ model makers and exhibits people. I am not sure who the Cal Academy used to move some of the Dioramas to the new Building, Tom Sweringgen (spelling?) left Kansas by retirement, TAB may be what is left at LA county, and I believe Floyd left from MPM, Greg was eliminated years ago (Wendy is still there). I am not sure about the Bell. And then the Carnegie Museum which I work at does not have a Museum Taxidermist position. Denver may still have one employed. These are the major "Classic" Large Natural History Museums with exhibits, and between 1910 and 1950 they probably employed 80-100 Museum Taxidermists between them all.

I also have the luxury of gazing on Dioramas any time I get the urge. When I started here I had worked for the Park Service in Yellowstone one summer, Isle Royale one summer, Mammoth Cave for one summer, and grew up running around the north central parts of Pennsylvania. One disadvantage of working in a big museums that they are in cities. But I could leave the Bird preplab and walk down and visit a recreation of Lamar Valley, A marsh from the north with Moose, A recreated cave, and dioramas of Black Bears, and Whitetails, and all sorts of habitats I had spent my formative years up to actually biting the bullet and getting a job with retirement.

It took a while before I actually felt the connection with the people who had long created these pieces of Art. Just like the scientists and collectors who built the large scientific collections where I work, these "Museum Taxidermists" devoted their lives to something that they had a passion for. They built the museums exhibits to satisfy their inner desire to actually live in the dioramas they were creating. I imagine they tried to bring that "place" they collected the specimens and plant references and photos or paintings of the landscape back to the city and keep it for themselves to gaze upon and remember. It is not unlike a hunter viewing a mounted deer head and remembering the hunt, but the "Museum Taxidermist" brings the entire experience back to the museum.

The one thing about the computer and this forum is that it allows the taxidermist/preparator the ability to reach out and communicate with people widely separated by distance, about topics that it is difficult to find people who relate to them. The History of Taxidermy is one of those. JJ, MR. Yox, John, and a few other people do frequent the forums but there are many who don't either have the ability or desire to enter this form of communication. It is impossible, at least for me, to not get inspired by visiting a Natural History Museum, but the general public doesn't see it this way. Actually, let me rephrase that, I have no desire to visit the Smithsonian even though John Matthews, Ken Walker and Paul Rhymer worked their fingers off in doing the taxidermy - they did not create a "Place", they only created pieces of taxidermy. Mellissa had it right! See this Youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYAUWqF3CEo&feature=related

A second thing the computer allows you to do, is research subjects and make information easier to gather. Since 1985 I have been building a library. The first 15 years I did it by book catalogues, the next 8 years by Ebay and ABE books and I have actually been lax in adding much for the last couple years. I am again inspired but Google has allowed access to all who have use of the computer for many publications not easily obtained. For example, the Annual Reports of the Society of American Taxidermists. To my knowledge only a very few copies of the three annual reports exist - here, NMNH, AMNH, FMNH, Floyd' library, and a couple others. I located the Third Annual Report on Google Books. If you have never seen this publication it is a definite historic piece. 3rd Annual Report - Society of American Taxidermists

Weird publications that I didn't think worth digitizing are even available. I have this little book Barbers' Manual; Textbook of Taxidermy available via Read On-line via PDF, B/W PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Daisy , Full Text, DjVu
http://www.archive.org/details/barbersmanualand00mcco

And finally here is one other small video from the Field Museum http://www.archive.org/details/CliffSwallowsPreparingAStudyGroup

[Bill Yox]

Yes I realize that those positions are not available...but my anatomy still is, just in case!!

[John Bellucci]

Hey Stephen,

What a shame to hear museums are no longer hiring Taxidermists.  It has been my lifelong dream to work in a Natural History Museum.  I came close in 1977, when Joe Kish made me an offer that - at the time I turned down - and in later years have come to fully regret my youthful decision!

Please keep old archival films like this one coming!  

And finally here is one other small video from the Field Museum
http://www.archive.org/details/CliffSwallowsPreparingAStudyGroup

Carving balsa wood Bird bodies and sealing them in white glue, washing the skins, painting the interiors with an Arsenical solution, and creating the habitat ... gotta LOVE the mache' dispenser ... like an early caulking gun!  Who needs sound!?  The images speak volumes to me!  Thank you for ALL the links!

John.

[TAB]

Yes Stephen I am the last taxidermist and Diorama specialist at LACoNHM. As you say we are an endangered species. Bill I will keep your offer in mind the next time I get swamped. I have been the only full time taxidermist here throughout my time at the museum. However I did have habitats section with a team of foreground artists and a background painter when I first started. I use volunteers and temp staff to produce diorama material and help with prep work. My title always has been Museum Taxidermist, but I was hired because I was willing and able to do other exhibit and collections work as needed. 

Tim

[AriP]

I haven´t been in a while at the forum. And did first now saw this topic about history.
It is sad to read that the situation with taxidermists at the museums is so bad in America. Anyway it is not really good in Europe either, but since I started as a chief taxidermist at the Finnish Museum of Natural History in 1992 we were three taxidermists. But now we are five. Not so bad.
And during the last couple of years, we have had the opportunity to renew all our exhibitions.
Nice weekend to everybody
I will be going out to pheaseant hunt with my german roughhair
Ari

[alan webfoot]

great ''stuff'' ,I wonder what happened to all those good plaster molds?? It would shock you to see what a small state museum has in it's vaults. When I donated work to them I was allowed in the ''catacombs'' of the place ,and saw Teddy Roosevelts bighorn ram head in sad shape.

[alan webfoot]

thats why there is STILL a lesson to be learned from the masters,,, a grease gun for dispensing paper mache HMMMM!!!!!!!

[mr.T aka mr. friendly]

In the video link, I found the man hammering nails in the boards,,,,, is the same technique that we use today.

[alan webfoot]

John is that the man you worked with ,,[one doing the casting of the lily pads?] What would they have been poured out of??