Meet the real-life curiosities behind our new show

Did you know that some of the curiosities you can find in our new show are replicas of real-life objects? And some of them are pretty terrifying...

Our new Cabinet of Curiosities show invites you to come face-to-face with real-life fears and horrors. The shopkeeper, Frith, is a hoarder of antiques and oddities from around the world. One of his most treasured artefacts is a mermaid. But what you may not know, is that this mermaid is a replica of a real-life object which can be found at the The British Museum.

The Mermaid

This British Museum object is made up of a variety of organic materials, including a fish tail for its lower half. Objects such as this, ‘mermaids’, were common in the 17th century and were presented as curiosities in European houses. They often combined the heads of monkeys with fish tails. This particular example was said to have been 'caught' in Japan in the 18th century.

Real or fake?

 

© The Trustees of the British Museum

The Mummified Cat

You will meet another British Museum replica, in the form of a mummified cat. This original object dates back to Ancient Egypt, and contains the mummy of a kitten. The facial features are carefully crafted and emphasised with black paint. Most cats in Egypt during this time period were sacrificed as kittens and given as gifts to goddesses who were associated with cats and lions, such as Bastet. They were often placed in tombs with their owners, so that they’d be together in the afterlife.

Real or fake?

     

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Busy in the studio

Our incredibly talented studios team brought these creepy oddities to life, spending long days and nights crafting fake tails and glass eyeballs. 

Alice from our studio team spent two whole weeks working on the mermaid replicas. She started off simply with an armature of wire and a polystyrene ball. She then began sculpting on top of this frame using free form (a sort of air dry clay) and milliput for the finer details. 

In order to get the correct texture, in certain places she used a PVC snakeskin material for imprinting into the clay. She also used fine tissue paper with glue to add a papery skin-like quality to the final layers. For his hairy chin, she used bristles from an old paint brush! 

When asked about the more challenging elements of the creation, she told us that sculpting the tiny teeth were the main culprit!

   

Cabinet of Curiosities

This Easter, step into Mr Frith’s Cabinet of Curiosities to browse antiques, collectibles, and… peculiarities. 

BOOK NOW