Taxidermy

Taxidermy preserves animal skins and mounts them over forms to recreate an animal’s appearance, often for display or study.

Dermoplastic method: A taxidermy technique that mounts a prepared skin over a sculpted artificial body. It provides the form beneath the preserved skin.
Cabinet of curiosities: A collection of unusual objects assembled for study and display, especially in early modern Europe. Such collections created demand for preserved animals as objects of wonder and knowledge.
Museum diorama: A three-dimensional scene that presents figures or specimens within a carefully constructed setting. Dioramas place mounted animals in reconstructed habitats.
Skeletal articulation: The arrangement and mounting of bones to display an animal’s skeleton in anatomical position. It displays skeletal structure rather than recreating the animal’s external appearance.
Manikin (taxidermy): A shaped support, traditionally made from materials such as wood or wire, used beneath a taxidermied skin. The manikin establishes the specimen’s body shape and pose.
John Hancock (taxidermist): A nineteenth-century English naturalist and taxidermist known for lifelike bird mounts. His dramatic, naturalistic displays helped change Victorian expectations of taxidermy.
Study skin: A preserved animal skin prepared primarily for scientific examination and collection storage. Study skins prioritize measurable features and compact storage over a lifelike mounted pose.
Mummification: The preservation of a body by slowing decomposition through drying or chemical treatment. Mummification preserves the body itself, rather than mounting a prepared skin over a form.
Freeze-drying: A preservation process that removes frozen water by sublimation under vacuum. It preserves small specimens without the conventional skin-over-form mounting process.
Rowland Ward: A British taxidermist and taxidermy firm founder active in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His studio helped popularize elaborate trophy mounts and big-game displays.

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