Preview

The Kittens Wedding: The Anthropomorphic Taxidermy

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
396 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Kittens Wedding: The Anthropomorphic Taxidermy
This whole attitude towards the mourning process also helped to bring to light another interest for the Victorian people: The Anthropomorphic Taxidermy. “The practice of taking the dead body of an animal, preserved through the art of taxidermy and displaying it in such a way as to endow it with human characteristics” (Anthropomorphic Taxidermy). One of the pioneers of this type of work was Walter Potter, an English self-taught taxidermist (2 July 1835 – 21 May 1918). Walter Potter distinguished himself by creating miniature scenarios of human life represented by stuffed animal bodies. One of his most famous works was “The Kittens Wedding” which featured kittens standing as if they were participating in a wedding ceremony, and dressed in proper
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    If you give a mouse a cookie
    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    If you give a mouse a cookie

    Author Laura Numeroff has often said in interviews that the idea for the story came to her during a long car trip she took with a friend from San Francisco to Oregon. She narrated it as they drove and later wrote it down. The manuscript was passed over by nine publishers before being taken on by Laura Gerringer, a publisher under the Harper and Row (now HarperCollins) imprint, who immediately thought of Felicia Bond to illustrate it.The text was interpreted by illustrator Felicia Bond to show the increasing energy of the mouse, with the little boy being run ragged by the end of the story. The art was praised by School Library Journal for its "meticulous attention to detail",[1] and was executed with vibrant colors of blended pencil in a complex process of layering red, blue, yellow and black on separate sheets, which were then assembled during printing.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Andrew Lowe Research Paper
    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Andrew Lowe Research Paper

    The Victorians are known for their fascination with death. During the Victorian era (1837-1901) they took death very seriously, no expense was spared when arranging a proper funeral. During this time most American’s lives became restricted to the family. As the emotional focus of people narrowed to the immediate family, the significance of the final act expanded.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    "Shipwreck" by Cat Bohannon Analysis
    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    "Shipwreck" by Cat Bohannon Analysis

    In her essay “Shipwreck,” Cat Bohannon argues that displaying bodies of dead humans can be “art”, but this “art” may be difficult to separate from “science.” The text is filled with the author’s research, interviews and her personal reasoning. While observing the process of human dissection and preservation (known as “plastination”), Bohannon has a difficult time understanding this type of art making. For the author, plastination is a complicated and sometimes disturbing process. But she also seems to conclude that plastination is more than just “creative anatomy” (Bohannon 62), and is actually a form of expression just like painting or sculpture.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mary Anablo Guercino Analysis
    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mary Anablo Guercino Analysis

    The Latin phrase, “memento mori”, connotes the brevity of life as its message continuously remains apparent in art throughout the centuries. Artists illustrate subjects of forthcoming death in various methods, either subtly with dark color schemes or explicitly with symbolic metaphors. The presence of the human skull, an object synonymous with death, envelops the audience with grim thoughts as they are lead to conclude the demise of the artwork’s subject, or of themselves. Currently on view at the Blanton Museum of Art, Guercino’s Mary Magdalena (c. 1637) and Natalie Frank’s Snow White V (2011-14) overtly depict an image of death, yet both of the artworks’ ambiguous context are not completely distinguishable to the audience.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Grecian Couch
    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Grecian Couch

    The legs “that was similar to those found on a throne chair, namely legs terminating in animals’ feet” (Boger, “Guide to Furniture Styles” 5), are usually in the form of chimera, lion, eagles, and swans. The carvings are earthy with leaf patterns and extended curved lines following the over arching “sweeping curves and scrolls” (Boger, “Guide to Furniture Styles” 5) that resembles the work of Duncan Phyfe in America. They are realistically carved sometimes with “medley of and human heads, sphinxes with upraised wings, dolphins, swans, ringed lion’s mask, and the lion monopodium (Boger, “Furniture Past & Present” 364). Today, the additions of wheels are sometimes added to the legs of the couch to give it mobility.…

    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Response To The Kitten By Alexander Reid
    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Response To The Kitten By Alexander Reid

    The short story I am wrinting this response for is "The Kitten" by Alexander Reid . It is set on a farm a long time ago . That it is evident because the roof of the farm house is thatched, also butter churns are used a lot less often now . We can tell it is in Scotland because of the dialect speech."So thats wur shes been" The story begins with the hired man discovering the farm cat with her newborn kittens. The farmer instructs the hired man to get rid of the kittens. It is a story about one of the kittens getting the better of the hired man.…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mess Of Her New Red Dress Analysis
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mess Of Her New Red Dress Analysis

    Annie Makes a Mess of her New Red Dress sprouted from a seed of a few ideas about a little girl who receives a new dress and has trouble with it. The purpose of my children’s book is to communicate the different elements of life that small children love or hate such as birthday parties, lollies, balloons, parks and playgrounds. Another purpose is to educate children about overcoming adversity and the fact that it’s never as bad as they think. There are many themes in this book but the main ones are adventure and overcoming adversity.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Essay Comparing The Kittens Wedding And The Muskrats
    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Essay Comparing The Kittens Wedding And The Muskrats

    Potter started his obsession with taxidermy at age 15 in 1835 when he taxidermied his pet canary. Soon after, he become intrigued by his sister’s nurse rhyme books and started incorporating the rhymes into his taxidermy work (Milgroom, 2010). One of his most famous works, also his last work, is his diorama “The Kittens’ Wedding.” With 20 kittens lined up in attendance to a wedding, this work, and like many of Potter’s other works, has a cute but creepy factor. Although both of these dioramas were created for the pleasure of the public and to be enjoyed at their disposal, there’s an eerie and unsettling feeling when really examining the history behind these exhibits; In “The Kittens’ Wedding,” dead, baby kittens are lined up to display a ceremony of rejoicing and beginning of a new life while in “The Muskrats,” the dead muskrats are placed into idealized wildlife that reflects their time when they were alive. Even though Akeley’s intentions to enlighten education and Potter’s to appeal to audiences through interpretations of nursery rhymes, these taxidermists created atmospheres inside glass and wooden containers that are easily distinguishable from…

    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Postmortem Photography In The 19th Century
    • 151 Words
    • 1 Page

    Postmortem Photography In The 19th Century

    One of the fascinating trend sweeping through the Victorian period was postmortem photography or memento mori (remember you will die in Latin).…

    • 151 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain
    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain

    Jessica Mitford, the author, describes in this essay the process corpses go through while at the funeral parlor. Her word choice is strong, taking you visually, step by step, through that process. She uses vivid imagery, describing scenes in detail so you can picture it as if you were there.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Baldessari's Cremation Project
    • 1820 Words
    • 8 Pages

    John Baldessari's Cremation Project

    John Baldessari is a mischievous and humorous artist, who strongly believes “art is art” (YouTube). All explanations of Baldessari’s techniques, subject matter, and artworks can be easily explained by the artist himself. Baldessari is no stranger to the expression of his work. With no doubt, Baldessari is a “pure strategist”, and displays this greatly through his art (Khan Academy). Clearly the works, processes, and perspective of John Baldessari began as oddly justified, however Baldessari makes art as he wants it to be, not as others will possibly oppose it. The art was meant to be judged, and bring up conversations between viewers if it was truly art or not; this was the objective and purpose of his works. Because of Baldessari’s tremendous success, and popularity in modern art, he will continue to influence many upcoming artists, along with creating new opportunities for his viewers to perceive art as “just art.” John Baldessari’s major interest in puzzling his viewers with his works due to the juxtapositions he is so fond of is found is all of his works. The Cremation Project was a highly influential turning point in John Baldessari’s career as a conceptual artist; it alone changed his career influencing him to always experiment, take chances and bring further humour to his…

    • 1820 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cat People Documentary
    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cat People Documentary

    In the trailer for the movie Cat People, the representation for the “otherness” is show very straight forward. There is a normal woman who is cursed by transforming into a cat. There is also a part in the trailer where the narrator Discusses the “ women's kiss means death” which can mean that any man that falls in love with her she plans to kill. In this trailer the “ norm” may be the modern girl just living a normal life, while the “other” can be the cat version of the woman, she may have the bad characteristics of the normal woman when she transforms. As the film develops I expect to see the norm try to discover why the modern girl transforms to the cat or how, and tries ways to figure out how to stop it.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Theories Of Torturing Kittens
    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Theories Of Torturing Kittens

    Suppose you say to your friend, “Torturing kittens for pleasure is morally wrong.” What does this statement express? What, if anything, does it describe? What would make this statement true, if it’s true? Each of the Metaethical theories below offer answers to those three questions. Theory What moral statements express What moral statements describe What makes moral statements true or false Objective moral facts: Objective wrongness of torturing kittens. Objective moral facts: Objective wrongness of torturing kittens. Moral code of speaker’s culture: Disapproval of torturing kittens by speaker’s culture. Moral code of person’s culture (not necessarily speaker). Disapproval of torturing kittens by that person’s culture. Any objective moral facts?…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Grotesque In Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio
    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Grotesque In Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio

    Although the idea of a grotesque has negative connotations, grotesques come in several forms and can actually have positive effects on characters. It has become the norm among grotesques to teach a lesson on what not to do, however Kate Swift, of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, is a divine example of the theory that grotesques can lead to a deeper understanding of the world. Kate Swift attempts to aid in George Willard’s ability to throw his heart and soul into his writing, to love deeper, and to see past the words that humans use as a blockade to the inner workings of their mind.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Meret Oppenheim
    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Meret Oppenheim

    The piece of work I’m choosing to talk about is Méret Oppenheim, Object, 1936. This piece of art is in the Gateways to Art textbook and is on page 73. It’s a fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon. MOMA, New York. This piece of work took these dishes and covered them in fur. This three-dimensional form could be considered a ready-made because of the fact dishes are everyday objects, or it could be considered surreal. Oppenheim was shooting for creating a surreal object and explained that she took an object that is usually cold and hard, and instead make them soft and furry. By doing this, the idea of sipping from that cup will give an unexpected sensation of fur tickling our lips by contradicting the conscious logical experiences of the viewers. In this case, the relationship between it’s form and actual content or meaning of the piece fit together really nicely. The piece is furry which gives the viewer the feeling of fur on their lips, instead of a regular hard piece. The fact that there is fur on the dishes makes the entire artwork so it’s interesting that something so simple can be such a clever, great piece of art.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics