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Description
An original, hand-colored engraving by George Cruikshank, from 1822, advertising one of the most famous and earliest oddities exhibits - …
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An original, hand-colored engraving by George Cruikshank, from 1822, advertising one of the most famous and earliest oddities exhibits - that of a frightening Mermaid. The only known original copies such as this are currently with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.
When trade opened to Asia in 1853, other sea monster oddities began surfacing. But this is widely considered the first nationally advertised oddity of its type. Exhibited at the Turf Coffeehouse in St. James's Street in 1822 as a "Remarkable Stuffed Mermaid," this mummy-like creature enclosed in a glass case had been purchased by a Boston sea captain, Samuel Barret Eads, for 6,000 dollars from a Dutch fisherman. In London, several hundred people a day paid a shilling to view it. By the early 1840s the object belonged to Moses Kimball, proprietor of the Boston Museum, who renamed it the "Feejee Mermaid" and partnered with P.T. Barnum for a series of displays in New York and other American cities. About three feet long, the creature was probably created in Japan early in the 19th century from elements derived from an ape and a fish.
Measures: 6.5" x 9.5" and 14.5" x 16.5", framed (modern frame).
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- Dimensions
- 14.5ʺW × 2ʺD × 16.5ʺH
- Styles
- Realism
- Art Subjects
- Other
- Frame Type
- Framed
- Period
- Early 19th Century
- Country of Origin
- United Kingdom
- Item Type
- Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned
- Materials
- Paper
- Condition
- Good Condition, Original Condition Unaltered, Some Imperfections
- Color
- Auburn
- Condition Notes
- Some discoloration evident under the glass; commensurate with age. Some discoloration evident under the glass; commensurate with age. less
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