The History of Taxidermy:

Clues for Preservation

Amandine Peq uignot

Conservation Scientist, CRCDG (FRE 2 743), Museum National

d 'Histoire Nature/le, Grande Galerie de l 'Evolution I CP 22,
5 7 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France (email: apeq@mnhn.fr).

Abstract Taxidermy is a ge neral term d escri b i n g the d i ffere nt methods of s k i n ­

n i n g and p reserving verte brate ski n s b y stuffi n g o r m o u nting them
ove r an artificial armature . Using old taxidermy hand books and docu­
ments, we can fo llow the h istory of taxi d ermy, the evol ution of tan n i n g
recipes, and stuffi n g/ mou nting tec h n i q ues over th ree ce nturies. I n
ad d itio n , when all the h i storical preservation i nformation i s col lected , it
can give us some cl ues toward u n d e rstan d i n g the cu rrent co nservation
status of this type of coll ecti on .

I ntrod uctio n

The world taxidermy derives from the Greek "taxis" meaning arrangement and
"derma" meaning skin. The first French definition of the word appeared in an ar­
ticle written by Louis Dufresne published in the Nouveau dictionnaire d 'histoire
nature/le ( 1 803- 1 804 ). Little is known of the real beginnings of taxidermy for or­
nament or for scientific purposes. Some authors, such as Browne ( 1 879) place it
as beginning in old Egypt with the methods of embalmment. Recent authors such
as Larsen ( 1 945) and Didier and Boudarel ( 1 98 1 ) state that mummification is the
oldest technique of conservation. However, the mummies of the ancient Egyptians
should not be regarded as taxidermy. True taxidermy attempts to capture forms,
expressions, and animal attitudes in a lifelike manner. Mummies were created in a
religious context, unlike taxidermy, which developed from a curiosity about nature.
For that purpose, it utilized skinning, tanning, stuffing, and mounting techniques
that are completely different from mummification (Pequignot 2002).
Mac Kee ( 1 983), Williams and Hawks ( 1 987), and Frost ( 1 987) chose the
1 6th century as the beginning of taxidermy. This hypothesis is supported by the
emergence of first collections of natural history in Europe and the reference to
mounted specimens in the literature. The first attempt to prepare specimens is cred-
Collections: A Journalfor Museum and Archives Professionals, Volume 2, Number 3,
245
February 2006, pp. 245-2 5 5 . Copyright © 2006 AltaMira Press. All rights reserved
246 THE H I STORY O F TAX I DE RMY: C L U ES FOR PRESERVAT I O N '&

ited to a Dutch nobleman in the 1 6th century. With consultation from a chemist,
the nobleman skinned birds, filled the skin with preservative spices, and wired the
skin in upright positions. Another early record of taxidermy concerns the Austrian,
Baron von Herberstein who mounted the skin of a European bison over a crude
wooden frame for display in his residence sometime before 1 550. In France, there
are four stuffed crocodiles (dating from 1 597, 1 67 1 , 1 692 and 1 703) stil l preserved
in the city hall at Nimes. Unfortunately for this period there are few published refer­
ences about technical practices. The oldest known writing in English on taxidermy
is Aurora Chymica: or a Rational Way ofPreparing A nimals, Vegetables and Miner­
als, for a Physical Use ( 1 672), written by Edward Bolnest. In 1 690, James Petiver
published his BriefDirections for the Easy Making and Preserving Collections of
All Natural Curiosities.
For other authors, the 1 8th century is the century of taxidermy. It is true that
this age is an auspicious period of handbook publication (Wil liams and Hawks
1 987; Pequignot 2002). Reaumur's treatise ( 1 748) being perhaps the first published
in France, which was translated into English in the Philosophical Transactions of
the same year. At this time, voyages of discovery to exotic parts of the world of­
fered opportunities for museums and collectors to acquire a wide range of natural
curiosities. Attesting to this are the old specimens of the Cabinet du Roi ( 1 729-
1 793) at the Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris. There are
other surviving examples, such as the mount of an African Grey Parrot that died in
1 702 in England (Morris, 1 950), an elephant mounted at the end of 1 8th century
at the Museo National de Ciencas Naturales in Madrid, and a hippopotamus dating
from 1 763 at the Museo di Storia Naturale in Florence. By the 1 700s, taxidermy
was sometimes defined as a technique to conserve all animals (vertebrates, inverte­
brates) and plants, and there was controversy about preservation methods, particu­
larly as to the best way of protecting specimens from insect attack.

S k i n Preparation and Mou nti ng

From the 1 8th century to the end of the 1 9th century, "preservative" was the generic
term employed by naturalists to designate the tanning products for skin conserva­
tion. Boitard ( 1 88 1 ) defines it as "an antiseptic substance that possesses [several]
conservative properties. The first one is to prevent the development of insects. The
second is to do a quick desiccate of the skin to prevent the loss of the hair or feathers"
[author's translation] . The preservatives were applied in different forms-powder,
soap, pastes, liquid infusions, and baths. In the 1 8th century, collectors and naturalists
experienced problems with the preservation of their specimens. They had to deal with
the deterioration of the skin, the odor that came from this deterioration, and insect at­
tacks. Entomology, which became popular during the same period, was an important
aid to naturalists in finding ways to repel or eradicate insects. Mauduit ( 1 773) and
& AMAN D I N E P EQ U I G N OT 247

Nicolas ( 1 774) proposed applying repellents to the skin, including strongly odor­
iferous materials that permeated both the skin and the surrounding environment.
To stabilize the skin and stop deterioration, naturalists used salt, lime, or alum.
These were used in baths to degrease and swell the skin and dilate the pores so that
the skin was ready to be penetrated by a tanning agent. Turgot ( 1 758) proposed a
fourth compound, camphor, which he considered to be both strong and safe. Many
methods were tested to dry the skin, including Reamur's ( 1 748) technique, which
involved heating the specimen in an oven. This was described as causing the insects
to become active and fall from the skin, allowing the naturalist to crush them. This
was not a matter of using a preservative, but rather as a drastic drying method,
which removed water from the skin and thus stopped enzymatic degradation.
Plant materials were chosen for their astringent properties as well as for strong
odors. The most representative example is the tan (powdered oak bark). This was
prepared by burning the bark and then macerating the residue in boiling water.
The skin was placed in this liquor for tanning. A great many tanning recipes were
invented. The French naturalist, George Buffon, Intendant of the Cabinet du Roi,
proposed among other recipes a mixture of herbs (rosemary, thyme, laurel), peels
(orange, lemon), and seeds (cumin, anise, cinnamon, pepper). Some handbooks
recommended tanning with green gorse associated animal droppings, and others
with birch or willow bark. Lalande's Art du Tanneur ( 1 794) proposed a lengthy list
of plants that could be used for tanning, along with the best part of the plant (roots,
stems, leaves, seeds, or flowers) to select for the decoction. Sometimes specimens
were tanned and stuffed with ingredients such as pepper, bay leaf, lemon verbena,
sage, mint . . . in fact, any aromatic plants that the taxidermist might have at hand
in his garden. On occasion, the plant materials were mixed with salt, alum, or alco­
hol . These first preservatives quickly showed their limits for specimen preservation.
Consequently, naturalists incorporated a new group of very strong and effective
poisons, such as arsenic sulfide or trioxide, or mercuric chloride (known as ' cor­
rosive sublimate) in the next generation of preservatives.
The most important and widely used of the new preservatives was the arseni­
cal soap made by the apothecary Jean-Baptiste Becoeur ( 1 7 1 8- 1 777) in the mid­
dle of the 1 8th century (Pequignot 2002). During his lifetime, Becoeur never gave
the composition of his miracle compound. Louis Dufresne unveiled the formula in
1 800 in Daudin's Traite E!ementaire et Comp/et d 'Ornithologie ( 1 800). Becoeur's
preservative was composed of camphor, powdered arsenic, salt of tartar, bar soap
and powdered lime. The widespread adoption of the methods described by Du­
fresne marked a turning point in the history of taxidermy. Some naturalists, such as
Mauduit de la Varenne ( 1 773) were opposed to the use of arsenic and employed less
toxic ingredients, but arsenic became and largely remained the central ingredient of
taxidermists' preservative formulae until nearly 1 980. Throughout the 1 9th century,
taxidermist still used salt, alum line, camphor, arsenic salts or sulfur, although often
mixed in alcohol or ether. Pequignot (2002) for France and Williams and Hawks
248 T H E H I STORY OF TAXI D ERMY: C L U E S FOR PRESERVATION eJ

( 1 987) for other countries listed over 1 40 preservatives that were published for use
in dry-skin or fluid preparations of vertebrate specimens since the 1 8th century.
During the 1 8th century, the preparation of small or mid-sized mammals and
birds was based on the same technique. The goal was to skin the specimen, remove
the viscera, and conserve some parts of the skeleton. Naturalists mounted these
specimens using a mechanism not modified significantly until the end of the 1 9th
century-the wire armature. A crossed-wire framework (one part for each limb),
was inserted in the skin and connected to the remaining bones. Then, the skin was
stuffed with various materials. The most common stuffings were moss, tobacco,
tow (coarse, broken fibers of flax), hemp, cotton, straw, and wood (shavings, saw­
dust). Some taxidermists also used hair or wool, paper, and clays.
For very large specimens, the technique was to use a mannequin to support
the skin. Some 1 8th century examples still exist in museums. In France, a rhinoc­
eros (Rhinoceros unicornis), a gift to the French king, Louis XV, was mounted in
1 792. Its body was dissected at the Cabinet du Roi by anatomists Vicq d'Azyr and
Mertrud. The skin and the skeleton were mounted individually. Today, visitors can
see the skeleton in the Galerie d 'Anatomie Comparee, and the mounted specimen
at the Grande Galerie de !' Evolution at the Musem National d'Histoire Naturel le in
Paris. For the mounted skin, observations by the taxidermists who did the restora­
tion of the specimen attest to the presence of a wood frame with one beam for each
leg, two half barrels for each girdle (pelvic and scapular) that are connected by a
central beam between the pelvis and the head. The mass of the specimen is sup­
ported by hazel wood supports fixed between the two half barrels like a bird's cage
(Pequignot 2002). Several questions remain unanswered. Is the wooden mannequin
completely empty? How was the head prepared?
There are some other examples of specimens mounted with a mannequin at
the Museum of Paris-a blue antelope ( 1 8th century) and a quagga ( 1 798). Louis­
Jean-Marie Daubenton in Histoire Naturelle ( 1 749) described the mounting of a
zebra skin over a plaster base. The use of the mannequin was perfected in the 1 9th
century. In 1 803 , Louis Dufresne prepared the skin of an elephant called "Hans,"
which had died in the Menagerie of the Museum (Pequignot et al. 2005). The skin
was extended on the ground to take dimensions. To construct the model, a draw­
ing of the animal was made from these measurements. The skin was put into a tub
and covered with boiling water that had been saturated with alum. During the skin
treatment, the model, which was to fill the skin was created, with linden wood for
fore and hind legs and the head modelled in plaster; no stuffing was employed. The
prepared skin was laid over the wood structure, fixed with nails and saturated with
olive oil.
Other 1 9th century mannequins were made with a wood beam used as a sub­
stitute for the central wire or body support (length equal to the distance between the
shoulders and thighs). The appendages (skull, legs, tail) were then attached to the
board via wires. When the framework was finished, the taxidermist put successive
& AMAN D I N E P E Q U I G NOT 249

Figure 1 . J u les Terrier, taxidermist of the Museum in Paris, prepared the man neq u i n for a
mou nted buffalo (1 9th century) . From Didier and Boudarel (1981).

layers of dry hay or straw (sometimes mixed with plaster of Paris) over the struc­
ture's side and legs. The skin was finally applied and sewn over the base form.
The mannequin technique evolved during the 1 9th century. Some taxider­
mists completely removed all bones in order to obtain both a lightweight mounted
specimen and a full skeleton for the osteological collection. This work necessitated
taking a cast of a cutaway dissection in plaster or clay. Next, the taxidermist would
model the animal 's form like a sculptor. Jules Terrier, a taxidermist at the Museum
of Paris, prepared many specimens in this fashion, including a buffalo (Pequignot
2002). He built an artificial skeleton carved in wood from direct observation of the
original animal (Figure 1 ). The structure was then stuffed and covered in layers with
a mixture of tow, straw, hay and plaster, forming the body and the musculature. That
this technique remained in practice through the end of the century is shown in the
preparation of "Miss Fanny", another elephant which was mounted in 1 894 at the
Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Bordeaux. The skin was tanned for five weeks in a
barrel containing a mixture of water, alum, alcohol, phenic acid (phenol or carbolic
acid) and zinc chloride. The skeleton was cleaned to be mounted separately. The
mannequin was composed of a wood framework, stuffed with straw and covered
with layers of plaster. Mannequin techniques are still in use today. However, most
modern mannequins are either hollow forms made of fiber-reinforced plastics or
for small mounts, are solid forms carved from polystyrene.
250 T H E H I STORY O F TAXI D ERMY: C L U E S F O R PRESERVATION &

Exam i n ation of H i storic Mou nts

Our understanding of the history of taxidermy is based primarily on literary refer­

ences (handbooks, archives, articles, etc.). It is clear that we cannot know all tech­
niques from these sources. Some methods may have been lost because taxidermists
did not keep records or publish their methods. In addition, each taxidermist had his
own methods and could change his practices during his lifetime. For these reasons,
the specimen must be considered as a historical witness for taxidermy, and a source
for a better understanding of the techniques.
Mounted specimens can be exploited in different ways to reveal information.
The author studied specimens from the collection of Cabinet du Roi ( 1 729- 1 793) at
the MNHN (Pequignot 200 1 ). X-radiography was used to gather information about
the supports used inside a specimen (number of wires, their layout, etc.) and which
parts of the skeleton were still present (Figure 2).
The study of these 1 8th century specimens revealed that practices were in keeping
with the techniques found in handbooks: retention of skeletal parts was limited to
the legs, skull, and tail ; the internal armature was essentially based on wires. The
few differences observed were most likely due the personal preferences of the taxi­
dermists rather than to technical evolution in the methods.
The x-radiography revealed white shadowing in various parts of the speci­
mens. Suspecting that this was due to the presence of arsenic, these areas were
further examined using x-ray :fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) at the Centre de
Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France at the Louvre. This method,

Figure 2. X - ray radiography of quail killed

by King Louis XV from the Cabinet d u Roi
(M N H N , Paris). Photograph by author.
eJ AMAN DI N E P EQ U I G N OT 25 1

Figure 3. Example of the man nequ i n fou n d i n

t h e d ismantl i n g o f a 1 9th centu ry b i rd collec­
tions (M N H N , Paris) . Photograph by author.

using radioisotope excitation, is a non-destructive technique to detect chemical ele­

ments with atomic number equal to or greater than 20 (calcium). This qualitative
or semi-quantitative method is useful for pesticide analysis on museum artifacts by
detecting arsenic, mercury, lead, and bromine. The XRF spectrograms confirmed
the presence ofarsenic, sulfur, and lead, providing evidence to corroborate the x-ray
shadow.
Recently, the MNHN de-accessioned 204 bird specimens prepared during the
period from 1 8 1 2- 1 897. These lacked data or were considered to be in irreparably
poor condition. This offered an opportunity to completely dismantle the specimens
to further understand the methods and materials used by taxidermists of that period.
To mitigate hazards associated with toxic materials such as metal salts, the disman­
tling was undertaken in a fume hood, using appropriate personal protective equip­
ment.
The majority of the specimens ( 1 9 1 out of 204) were mounted with a clas­
sical wire armature. The support wires were shaped as cross, a triangle, or a rect­
angle. No one design seemed to be more popular than another. All specimens were
stuffed with the same material: a fine tow wrapped around the armature. In the
remaining 1 3 specimens, mannequins were made of cork or of a ball of tow, with
wires to support the limbs. Skeletal elements were limited to the skull, pelvis, wing
and leg bones in both the armature and mannequin mounts (Figure 3). The tech­
niques generally complemented the history of taxidermy compiled from historical
references-some were known and others were not mentioned in the handbooks.
252 TH E H I STORY OF TAXI D ERMY: C L U E S FOR PRESERVAT I O N r3

Figu re 4. Man neq u i n of the deer from

the Due d ' Orleans collections (M H H N ,
Paris) after d ismantl i ng. Photograph by
author.

A second investigation analysed de-accessioned specimens from the collec­

tion of the Due d'Orleans. The specimens had been prepared by the 1 9th century
Rowland Ward studio in London (Pequignot 2003). Dismantling of five specimens
(two deer, one panther, and two seals) showed consistency in mounting methods by
this British studio. The mannequins were made of a wood form with wire supports
for the head, legs, and tail (Figure 4). The main part of the body over the form was
stuffed with successive layers of straw, held together by a network of string. In one
of the deer, a page from the July 1 5, 1 898 Daily Mail helped to date the specimen.
Over the straw was a layer of tow that was itself overlain with plaster (Figure 5). The
plaster was used to reproduce the details of the musculature and was quite thick in
some areas, such as around the eyes and jaws, and in the legs. Some specimens bore
a tattoo on the inside of the skin, "Rowland Ward, LTD, 1 67 Piccadilly, London,
WL.," an identifying mark that was noted in Ward's handbook ( 1 906).
The specimens from these investigations also served as a source for samples
of hair, feathers, skin, and powdery residues from preparation chemicals for analy­
sis. Depending upon the status of a specimen (as a collection object or a de-acces­
sioned item), samples can be used for different purposes: to analyze the stability of
skin proteins in relation to the tanning or other preparation chemicals; to identify
materials used in skin preparation or stuffing; and to look for fungi or other biode­
terioration agents. Samples for DNA analysis (hair, skin, feathers) should be taken
before disposal of de-accessioned specimens.
& AMAN D I N E PEQU I G N OT 253

Plaster fayer
Tow layer

Figure 5. Structure of the man neq u i n from Due d ' Orleans deer. Photograph by author.

Concl u s i o n s

Observations and analyses of specimens confirm the variety of techniques and ma­
terials expected from the literature, supporting the known history of taxidermy.
These investigations also are important to understand the conservation state of col­
lections and the impact of past interventions (restoration re-conditioning, cleaning,
etc.). The same conservation protocols used in art, history, and ethnology collec­
tions have rarely been used in natural history collections. In the past, natural his­
tory specimens were often considered to be renewable resources that could be used
up in the course of scientific research. Their preservation was not the main goal of
museums whose focus was on research in the natural world.
Historically, collections of mounted specimens were used by naturalists for
the determination of new species, based on the anatomical and morphological de­
scriptions, and when conservation was considered, the focus was on the appearance
of the specimens. But today, researchers also use mounted or stuffed collections
to obtain molecular information, such as DNA sequences and protein structures.
Old collections have become very valuable to those who know how to use them
effectively. Assuring the preservation and correct use of these specimens for these
new investigations, requires an understanding of historic preparation techniques
that could be a cause of molecular degradation.
Today, there are important issues regarding conservation and preservation
254 TH E H I STORY O F TAXI D E RMY: C L U E S F O R PRESERVAT I O N &

of our collected resources in the natural sciences. The protection of nature and the
rapid extinction of species have given increased value to museum collections for
researcher and for society (Payne and Sorensons 2003, Suarez and Tsutsui 2004).
A new field of research must be developed to ensure that these collections are avail­
able in the future.

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