[Nhcoll-l] Taxidermy assistance

[Simon Moore]

Hi Gali,

This can open up the can of worms re ethical approaches.  
Incorrectly shaped mounts are normally left well alone as examples of bad/curious/early examples of some taxidermists' work.  Only if a specimen is unique might it be altered to look more anatomically correct.  If however, a back or head has sagged due to a snapped armature support somewhere then that is corrected.  
Colour correction is another tricky area - some mounts can look very dun if the background has faded and some correction can make them look much better and enhance their own fading colours.  Fur and feather tinting is 'very close to the wind' but most prefer some re-tinting, not to look 'as new' but in between, especially if UV has really faded specimens that are on public display.   
Case resealing is important and if a case has been originally sealed with putty, then (for me) this crosses the reversibility line.  Once I have removed the old putty (usually takes about 2-4 hours of careful tapping without cracking the glass!) then the glass is put back using black-painted gummed tape (more traditional) or new passe-partout if the adhesive has good and long lasting tack.  
Pest damage is normally repairable depending on the pest: moth damage (if severe) is often total and may require disposal of specimen (that really hurts!) but for carpet beetle larval damage when a bird has been 'shaved', then with some feather knowledge these can be glued back on - a long and tedious but very worthwhile job, usually reserved for rare or historic specimens.
Some carpentry knowledge for case repair is often useful too as pest-ingress prevention is vital.

Overall there are the schools of thought that prefer only minimal intervention and that deterioration (once stabilised) is part of the specimen's history.  Although this is true, if you're trying to please the public then that is a different matter as nothing is more off-putting, to my point of view, than hearing comments about tatty taxidermy and which can damage reputations - not only to heritage organisations but especially natural history and to those of us whose reputations are also at stake.  It can be a bit of a tightrope situation!

Hope that this helps. 

With all good wishes, Simon. 

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
www.natural-history-conservation.com 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gali Beiner 
  To: Simon Moore 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2013 10:37 AM
  Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Taxidermy assistance


  Hello Simon and others,  

  Just out of curiosity, when one says "taxidermy conservator" what does that cover? Does that cover full scale modification of "incorrectly shaped" taxidermy mounts, or mainly cleaning and basic repair? We have our own taxidermy mounts here, personally I do not deal with re-shaping taxidermy mounts because at least for the time being this is beyond my skill. I can deal with pest problems, cleaning, some small scale modification (mainly dealing with colours etc.) and other small items relating to taxidermy. It would be fascinating to know if conservators deal with more than that as far as taxidermy mounts are concerned. 

  Thank you, 

  Gali



  On Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 9:08 PM, Simon Moore <couteaufin at btinternet.com> wrote:

    I am a conservator of taxidermy among other items.  If any more specific
    advice is required please feel free to ask me.

    With all good wishes, Simon.

    Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
    Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
    www.natural-history-conservation.com


    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Dallas Evans" <Dallas at childrensmuseum.org>
    To: <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>

    Sent: Monday, July 01, 2013 3:17 PM
    Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Taxidermy assistance


    > Does anyone have any leads/recommendations for a conservation taxidermist?
    > Feel free to reply off list.
    >
    > Thanks in advance.
    > - Dallas
    >
    >
    > Dallas C. Evans
    > Curator of Natural Science
    > The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
    > 3000 North Meridian Street
    > Indianapolis, IN 46208
    > P:317.334.3716   dallas at childrensmuseum.org
    > _______________________________________________
    > Nhcoll-l mailing list
    > Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
    > http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
    >
    >

    > -----
    > No virus found in this message.
    > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
    > Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6452 - Release Date: 06/30/13

    >

    _______________________________________________
    Nhcoll-l mailing list
    Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
    http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l




  -- 

  Gali Beiner (ACR)
  Conservator, Palaeontology Lab
  National Natural History Collections
  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
  Berman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram
  Jerusalem 91904, Israel
  Fax. 972-2-6585785
  gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il
  Have a look at our National Natural History Collections Website!

  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6455 - Release Date: 07/01/13
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20130702/685071c0/attachment.html