"The first giraffes to arrive in London were not live, but stuffed. The first, a young specimen, came in the 1770s and from the 1810s it was dramatically displayed with two others at the top of the stairs of Montagu House, where the museum was then based. The British Museum then also covered natural history, which was later hived off to a separate institution in South Kensington, which opened in 1881."
"The museum's specimen is said to have been "caught" in Japan just after 1700. Of course, it is a fake: part of a stuffed monkey, with a fish tail and fish jaw, complete with teeth. The mermaid has a royal provenance, since it was given to Prince Arthur, the seventh child of Queen Victoria, on a visit to Tokyo in 1906 when he awarded the emperor with the Order of the Garter."
The museum preserves curiosities and historical specimens spanning centuries. A faux mermaid, made from a stuffed monkey with fish parts, was reportedly captured in Japan after 1700 and later gifted to Prince Arthur in 1906; it is displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery. A celebrated cat named Mike (1909–29) belonged to Egyptologist Wallis Budge, kept pests at bay, received press obituaries, and was buried near the entrance gate. Early stuffed giraffes arrived in the 1770s and were displayed prominently in the 1810s but have since been lost. Over 1.5 million cigarette cards are held in storage.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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