The Taxidermy Wonders of Charles Waterton

"Nondescript".
Image credit ridiculouslyinteresting.com.

Charles Waterton was an English naturalist and explorer who established the worlds very first nature reserve on his own estate grounds. But his is best known for his eccentricities (he would, among other things, tickle his guests with brushes and bite their legs), and his bizarre taxidermy creations.

The most famous of Waterton's creations is the "Nondescript", pictured above. According to Waterton's Wanderings in South America, he had shot and killed the large, monkey-like animal in the jungles of Guiana, but could only bring the creature's head back to England.

Although Waterton claimed the Nondescript was a real animal, zoologists who examined the specimen determined that it was actually the heavily manipulated hindquarters of a howler monkey. Furthermore, the face of the animal is said to bear resemblance to a customs inspector named Lushington, who had forced Waterton to pay higher-than-average import taxes three years prior. In an act of humourous revenge, Waterton had turned a monkey's backside into the man's own face.

"Martin Luther After His Fall".
Image credit wakefield.gov.uk.

Shown above is "Martin Luther After His Fall", a religious statement on Waterton's part: he was a Roman Catholic, and so strongly opposed to the Protestant Martin Luther's ideas. The devil-horned caricature's body is that of a gorilla named Jenny, who was exhibited at Mrs Wombwell’s Travelling Menagerie from 1855. Waterton often visited her, and preserved her body after she died. Although it seems quite small, it must be among the largest of Waterton's caricatures, unless Jenny died at a young age. The caricature is evidently supposed to represent Luther as a "brutish animal", and as the devil itself.

"John Bull".
Image credit neatorama.com.

Finally, "John Bull" is Waterton's version of a politcal cartoon. This porcupine-tortoise is weighed down by the national debt, and surrounded by devils. ("John Bull" is a popular personification of England).

All three of these creatures can still be seen, along with many of Waterton's other creations, in Wakefield Museum, Yorkshire. Waterton's specimens are so well-preserved because he created his own method for preserving them. He has also been praised by Sir David Attenborough, who officially opened Wakefield Museum.