Taxidermy history

[double barrel]

All I'm saying is if those old masters as we call them had the talent to produce those museam diaramas with beautiful anatomically correct mounts how come they never took the time to sculp some commercial wt deer forms that were as accurate? Look at the museam work of those days and compare to the comm. heads being done then. The 4 guys I mentioned and lots more still living done more for the ind. than all those masters ever did.

[CrabCrazy]

Dennie Biehns , were the first WT foam forms i used after paper was dying out....they were jonas forms...all i ever used...now since i retired from my reg work and my taxidermy job...i plan to try all the other form makers....may even want to try to sculpture one on my own...now i have the time

[double barrel]

Thanks for the reply C.C. I hope you do sculpt one. I'm not sayin DB's ARE the # 1 selling forms, Im just sayin if there is a form that outsells all the others it must mean that the people like them and that sculptor done alot for the industry as well as his wallet.
   Now! If Fred Flintstone killed a Humongasoris Rex with a club way back in 40,000 BC and he and Barney skinned it , skraped all the meat off it and stuffed it with pinestraw, even if they did museam quality work, they didn't do much to promote the industry.

[cyclone]

Use your dang respirator when you are working with with that polyurethane foam!!

[CrabCrazy]

taxidermy forms are like fashion....whatever is in is selling...i would guess the 6900 from McKenzie is selling now

[cyclone]

What happened to the other 10 paragraphs?

[CrabCrazy]

good question...not making any sense now

[cyclone]

good question...not making any sense now

and it did before?

[CrabCrazy]

i think it was ....what is the best selling WT deer form....but now i'm not sure

[double barrel]

Ok, I'll try again. In todays world, you can go to any show and see work that is so good it belongs in a museam. Back in the old days, the commercial deer heads looked terible, excelser and natural sculls in, neck mts. with no shoulders, bugging eyes, and so on. Question, if these old masters that we rave about on the history section could sculpt so good, how come none ever sculpted a good line of headforms.? Alot of guys that are alive today done 100 times more for the industry than all these old guys put together. Bob williamson,Dan Chase, Ken, isn't he the one who started this site?, and last but not least, whoever it is that sculpted the number one selling forms in the world. Maybe when they die someone will put a nice writeup about them. I haven't read all of the history section, there might be something I'm missing.

[John Bellucci]

Besides the spell check feature, you are missing the entire facts about the greats that you are so dismissive about!  To claim that Carl Akeley (notice the spelling) never did any commercial work is speaking out of your own butt.  He most certainly DID do commercial work.  While he was employed at Ward's he turned out whatever the market demanded, and whatever his bosses put in front of him, all the while trying to come up with ways to improve the work he was tasked to do.  He went on to mount Jumbo for the Ward's client - P.T. Barnum.  

He eventually began to experiment with new techniques and materials, and began to work on, and creating masterpieces in his own apartment.  Even receiving a paying job - sounds like client work - to mount three Horses for the Columbian World Exposition of 1893 ... Horses I might add that he had to provide!  He also mounted the "Four Seasons" Whitetail Deer groups in his apartment, and sold them to the Field Museum.  He not only developed and perfected his "Akeley Method" of Taxidermy, (which by the way was christened so by Henry Osborne and James L. Clark), and also developed and perfected new ways of creating artificial foliage for these groups, with the assistance of his first wife, Delia.  He created the plant molds and presses, taught Delia how to create the leaves and grasses, and she accomplished all the foliage for these groups!

During his time with various Museums, he took in extra private client work to further supplement his income from his museum work which was at the discretion of financial backers and board members.  Back in the 1970's Taxidermy Review magazine, once ran an article on an Akeley Deer head surfacing in Colorado.

The other Masters also did commercial work ... commercial work that would stand and surpass much of the work being done today!  James Clark, Leon Pray, Robert Rockwell, among other greats of their time, also ran successful commercial studios outside of their museum work.  The gentlemen that worked for them eventually went out on their own, keeping the high standards of their mentors.

Later, when slobs took up the trade, is when the bottom fell out of Taxidermy.  None of the Masters turned out the crap work you describe.

Why not the modern sculptors?  They simply did not invent, nor did they perfect the methods they use.  These were invented and perfected by the Masters that are so revered.  The Akeley Method is used by everyone who sculpts headforms and lifesize mannikins today.  Dennis Behn, Tom Matuska, Joe Kish, Tommy Ray, Forest Hart, Kip Hughes, Brian Harness, myself, as well as all others who put clay over skeletons.  A method invented, developed and perfected by Carl Akeley.  None of us can lay claim to this method ... Carl Akeley can.  And deservedly so.

So before you start talking out of your ass again, try doing a lot of reading, and try learning about the people you find it so easy to speak ill of, and outright believe you have some extraordinary right to be dismissive of.  Educate yourself.  You'll be amazed at what you might learn ... or not.

[byrdman]

the only statement of yours would disagree with was "later when slobs took up the trade"....slobs were around back then too and before....have seen 150 year old stuff that wasnt done by any master.....but cool stuff john...had the fortune to work with forest hart putting together an armature that he sculpted for a seminar

[John Bellucci]

the only statement of yours would disagree with was "later when slobs took up the trade"....slobs were around back then too and before....have seen 150 year old stuff that wasnt done by any master.....but cool stuff john...had the fortune to work with forest hart putting together an armature that he sculpted for a seminar

Beyond these guys and Taxidermy's "Golden Age", Taxidermy really went into the crapper.  Yes there was the work done by many earlier Taxidermists that some call "Victorian" that are terrible pieces ... and most if not all of those were stuffed.  Carl Akeley raised what was being done from what was considered akin to an upholsterer's trade, to more of an art form, with sculpted clay models that were eventually molded, having casts made from them to mount the skins upon.  I know you know this.  

As an aside, I too, had the opportunity to work on a Bobcat mannikin Toby was working on for a seminar back at a show in Idaho in the mid '90's.  And I agree ... truly a fortunate thing!

[museum man]

bravo

[byrdman]

know what you mean John....I have some old black and white  pics of some big mounts they were using wodd lath nailed onto a wooden armature and excelsior to wrap detail and legs..real skulls  .looks like skin was put right on this mannikin....not casted....would you know who did this? the jonas brothers maybe?