Syphilitic Moulages, White Chocolate Carrion Crow Skulls, and Hand Printed Anatomical Postcards : Valentine's Day Gifts at the Morbid Anatomy Museum Giftshop!

Looking for a Valentine's Day gift for that special--and perhaps slightly eccentric and hard to shop for--someone? The Morbid Anatomy Museum Gift Shop might have just the thing.

Perhaps your beloved might appreciate a unique, ready to hang wax moulage depicting secondary syphilis of the face, handcrafted by our "Moulagist in Residence" Nicole Antebi (top image/$100; more here)? 

If that's not quite right, then perhaps one of our exclusive limited edition hand-printed anatomical postcards by Brooklyn artist Mark Splatter (second image down/$2; more here) would fit the bill? 

Or maybe a better fit would be one of our Morbid Anatomy Calendars (now on sale for only $12; regularly $20!) filled with photographs of uncanny objects found in obscure collections, and noting such dates such as the birthday of Edward Gorey, the first performance at Paris' Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, Dia de los Muertos and Santa Muerte's Feast Day (third image down/$12; more here)? 

If your sweetie prefers sweets, then perhaps our white Belgian chocolate carrion crow skull (now on sale for only $16; regularly $20!) by UK based Conjurers Kitchen might be of interest (fourth image down/On sale for $16; more here)? 

If not, then perhaps they might fancy a set of four Morbid Anatomy Museum coasters with our logo--a fetal skeleton from Frederik Ruysch's early 18th century book "Thesaurus Anatomicus," illustration by Cornelius Huyberts--might be just the thing (fifth image down/4 for $5; more here)?

You can find out more about all of these objects by clicking here. You can see all the Morbid Anatomy Museum offerings by clicking here.

Museum of Mexican Medicine (Museo de la Medicina Mexicana), Palace of the Inquisition, Mexico City

On our recent trip to Mexico, we stopped in at the Museum of Mexican Medicine (Museo de la Medicina Mexicana) located at the Palace of the Inquisition in Mexico City. On the Sunday we went, it was so completely mobbed that we could barely even push our way up through all the families taking cell phone photos of the amazing moulages to see much of them ourselves. It was lovely to see such a museum so popular on any day, let alone a Sunday.

You can see some of the photos from the trip above; click here to see a more complete set. You can find out more about the museum by clicking here.

Learn to Make Convincing Wax Wounds in Workshop with Medical Artist Eleanor Crook, This Sunday at London's Last Tuesday Society!

This photo just in from Eleanor Crook, instructor for Sunday's "Wax Wound Workshop" at The Last Tuesday Society. This is what she has to say about it:

"Modelling up a face for the wax wounds workshop on Sunday at the Last Tuesday Society - each participant receives one of these to "operate" upon....then mount it as a moulage as per the picture here with the syphilis..."

I will be present as a student in this class; hope very much to see you there!

Full information below; tickets available here.

_______________________________

Bubonic Plague by
workshop teacher
Eleanor Crook

Wax Wound Workshop with medical artist Eleanor Crook
2nd June 2013
1 to 5pm
Ticket price £120 - all materials included
Location: The Last Tuesday Society at 11 Mare Street, London, E8 4RP map here)

Let acclaimed sculptor Eleanor Crook guide you in creating your very own wax wound. Crook has lent her experience to professionals ranging from forensic law enforcement officers to plastic surgeons, so is well placed to help you make a horrendously lifelike scar, boil or blister. More details to be confirmed shortly.

Eleanor Crook trained in sculpture at Central St Martins and the Royal Academy and makes figures and effigies in wax, carved wood and lifelike media. She has also made a special study of anatomy and has sculpted anatomical and pathological waxworks for the Gordon Museum of Pathology at Guy's Hospital, London's Science Museum, and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. She exhibits internationally in both fine art and science museum contexts. In the interest of making figures more lifelike than the living, using a generous grant from the Wellcome Trust she developed the incorporation of electronic animatronics systems into the sculptures so that her moribund and macabre creations now can twitch and mutter. She is artist in residence at the Gordon Museum of Pathology, a member of the Medical Artists' Association, runs a course in Anatomy drawing at the Royal College of Art and lectures on the M. A. Art and Science course at Central St Martins School of Art in London.

More here. Tickets here.

Moulage, after 1945 (original cast from 1900 to 1912), Made by the German Hygiene Museum, Dresden

Moulage depicting "Angina lacunaris," made by the German Hygiene Museum, Dresden. Click on image to see larger image. More here.

Anatomical Theatre Podcast

Recently, a journalist named Emma Jacobs came by the Morbid Anatomy Library to interview me about my work photographing anatomical models for the exhibition Anatomical Theatre. You can hear the very-nicely-produced result on her "History Radio" podcast--both as part of the feature piece "Lenses" and in a short bonus feature entitled "The Anatomical Photographer"--by clicking here.

Photo above is part of my continuing collection of images for an ever-expanding Anatomical Theatre, and was taken last year at the museum of the history of medicine in Krakow, Poland. You can find out more about the Anatomical Theatre project by clicking here.

Thanks, Emma, for such a thoughtful and lovely interview!

Introducing www.moulagen.de, Soon to be the On-Line Moulage Encyclopedia

Moulages are three dimensional teaching aids in wax... Like a plastic textbook, the moulages represented the appearance of diseases highly true to nature. In the 2nd half of the 20th century many moulage collections were neglected, forgotten or even destroyed as outdated objects for teaching. Today moulages face quite a renaissance worldwide. As visually telling objects they are used in medical exhibitions and art shows as well as in medical teaching contexts.

The Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité has just launched a new web-initiative called www.moulagen.de; the website seeks to create, via user participation, an online, accessible database of all known moulage collections, and to connect the various people who work with moulage--such as curators, restorers, artists, curators, enthusiasts and scholars--with one another and to encourage the sharing of resources, tips, and news within the community. The site will ultimately be in German and English, though the English parts of the site are somewhat limited at the moment.

I was lucky to see enough to see the people behind this website--Thomas Schnalke, Isabel Atzl and Navena Widulin--present an inspiring lecture on the project at the recent "Wax Moulages as Cultural Artefacts" conference in Dresden, and I really admired their enthusiasm and vision, and the scope of what they proposed. If you have or work with a moulage collection, I urge you to visit the website and fill out their brief questionnaire (scroll down to the bottom to find both an English and German version) to participate in the building of this wonderfully conceived database project.

If you are fan of moulage, stay tuned; one hopes that, down the road, this website will become the definitive portal for learning about moulage and discovering the incredible moulage collections--such as le Musée des moulages de l'hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, pictured above--that still exist around the world.

Here is more about the project, in Thomas' words:

Welcome to www.moulagen.de

Moulages are three dimensional teaching aids in wax. They were largely used between 1850 and 1950. Starting from Europe, there were soon many clinics worldwide collecting, keeping, and presenting sometimes thousands of these objects in specific collections. Like a plastic textbook, the moulages represented the appearance of diseases highly true to nature. In the 2nd half of the 20th century many moulage collections were neglected, forgotten or even destroyed as outdated objects for teaching. Today moulages face quite a renaissance worldwide. As visually telling objects they are used in medical exhibitions and art shows as well as in medical teaching contexts.

There are quite a few aims of this site: It should make more information on moulages and the art of moulaging available, plus it wants to introduce the interested audience to various specific collections. In addition, all current activities, such as exhibitions or research projects connected with moulages, should be listed. With indicating relevant literature and links we want to encourage others to deepen their interest in and work on and with moulages.

If you want to register your moulage collection in this portal, please go to our website www.moulagen.de, download and fill in the questionnaire and send it back to us via E-mail. Thank you very much for your contribution!

Thanks again for your help.
Best wishes
Thomas

Herzlichen Willkommen auf www.moulagen.de!

Moulagen sind ursprünglich medizinische Lehrmittel, deren Nutzung vor allem zwischen 1850 und 1950 weit verbreitet war. Deutschland- und europaweit verfügten viele Kliniken über große Sammlungen mit mehreren tausend Moulagen, die wie ein Lehrbuch Krankheitszeichen naturgetreu darstellten. In der 2. Hälfte, des 20. Jahrhunderts gerieten viele Sammlungen in Vergessenheit oder wurden als unzeitgemäße Lehrobjekte zerstört. Heute erleben Moulagen eine große Renaissance, werden als anschauliche Objekte in medizinische und künstlerische Ausstellungen integriert, wieder als Lehrmittel eingesetzt oder gar neu angefertigt.

Ziel dieser Seite ist es zum einen, Informationen zu Moulagen zu vermitteln und zum anderen einzelne Sammlungen vorzustellen. Außerdem sollen aktuelle Projekte wie Ausstellungen oder Forschungsarbeiten vorgestellt werden, in denen Moulagen eine Rolle spielen, sowie Literaturhinweise und Links eine weitere Beschäftigung mit Moulagen anregen.

Sollten Sie eine Aufnahme ihrer Moulagensammlung in dieses Portal anstreben, füllen Sie bitte den Fragebogen aus und senden ihn via E-mail zurück. Herzlichen Dank für Ihre Mühe!

You can visit the www.moulagen.de website by clicking here. Photo is from one of my favorite moulage museums in the world, the incredible Musée des moulages de l'hôpital Saint-Louis of Paris, taken on my first visit to the museum earlier this year. Click here to visit the museum website.

Conference: "Wax Moulages as Cultural Artefacts" Dresden, Germany, September 24-26

There is a really exciting looking conference, entitled "Wax Moulages as Cultural Artefacts: Investigation, Conservation, and Restoration" taking place in Dresden, Germany, from September 24-26 of this year. Not only does this look to be a wonderful and thought-provoking multi-disciplinary conference but, even more wonderful--and highly unusual for a European conference--admission is free!

I have just registered and will definitely be in attendance. Hope to see any of you like-minded folks there! And, for those of you unclear on what medical moulage actually is, see above, wax moulages probably by Carl or Theodor Henning and housed in the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum (Pathologisch-anatomisches Bundesmuseum) in Vienna, Austria, as featured in Anatomical Theatre. For more on moulage, click here.

Here is the full conference schedule:

WAX MOULAGES AS CULTURAL ARTEFACTS
INVESTIGATION, CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, 24 - 26 SEPTEMBER 2009

The international conference is devoted to interdisciplinary communication on the aesthetic, historical and physical properties of moulages, and will permit an exchange on the use, study, conservation and restoration of the moulage collections still extant throughout the world.

Moulages, once a medium of medical documentation and education, are increasingly drawing the attention of international specialists. Through reinterpretation and reappraisal moulages have sometimes found their way into museums. Meanwhile, forgotten moulage collections continue to come to light.

Many of these moulages are in a poor state of conservation. In many institutions the preservation of moulages is endangered. Conservation and restoration are necessary to combat this urgent problem. The collections concerned must first be closely examined, however.

The conference will close this gap by presenting the first projects concerned with cataloguing and investigating the world's moulage collections, and with their use, restoration and conservation. The project Wax Moulages: Precious Craftsmanship In Danger of Extinction, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Cultural Foundation of the German States, is among those presented. As part of that project, specialized restoration and conservation concepts will be developed on the moulages in the collection of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum. The results will help to establish the first general standards and guidelines for the future conservation of moulages.

The conference aims to bring together custodians of moulage collections, medical scientists and medical historians, furthermore conservators/restorers, conservation scientists and museologists as well as cultural scientists and curators.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009, THURSDAY

17:30
Opening
Welcome: Prof. Klaus Vogel, Direktor Deutsches Hygiene-Museum
Introduction: Susanne Roeßiger, Leiterin Sammlung Deutsches Hygiene-Museum

18:00
THE WAX MOULAGE: ART OBJECT AND/OR TEACHING AID IN MEDICAL EDUCATION?
Chair: Prof. Dr. Thomas Schnalke, Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité

Presentations:

Moulages in the Museum: An Approach in Layers
Prof. Dr. Marion Maria Ruisinger, Deutsches Medizinhistorisches Museum Ingolstadt

The Model from Zürich: Wax Moulages in Medical Education
Dr. Michael Geiges, Moulagenmuseum der Universität Zürich

Principles of Restoration
Ute Hack, Restaurierungsabteilung des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums München

Panel Discussion

20:00
Reception

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009, FRIDAY

9:00
Entrée
Chair: Dr. Sandra Mühlenberend

WAX IMPRINTING AND WAX CASTING IN CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Dr. Jessica Ullrich, Universität der Künste, Berlin

9:45-12:30
Revision of the Collections of Wax Moulages
Chair: Prof. Dr. Albrecht Scholz, ehem. Direktor des Medizinhistorischen Instituts der Technischen Universität Dresden

9:45
The Wax Project: The Locating and Recording of Moulage Collections in European Institutes, Clinics and Museums
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schnalke, Navena Widulin, Isabel Atzl, Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité

10:30
Coffee Break

11:00
The Moulage Collection at the Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas/USA
Adrian Winters, Scott & White Memorial Hospital, Temple, Texas

11:30
On the Presentation and Storage Situation of the Moulage Collection at the University of Medicine in Kaunas/Lithuania
Prof. Dr. Skaidra Valiukeviciene, University of Medicine, Kaunas/Litauen

12:00
Between Sciences and Exhibition: The Wax Moulages at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum
Dr. Sandra Mühlenberend, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum

12:30
Lunch Break

13:30-17:30
THE CONSERVATION/RESTORATION OF WAX OBJECTS
Chair: Ute Hack

13:30
On the Conservation of Wax Moulages of the Musée du Service de Santé des Armées au Val de Grâce in Paris and on the Conservation Treatment on the Collection at the Université de Montpellier
Laurence Chicoineau, freie Restauratorin, Ris-Orangis/ Frankreich

14:30
Restoring Shapes: On the Conservation of Wax Moulages at the Medical Museum of the University of Copenhagen/Denmark
Ion Meyer, Medical Museion Copenhagen

15:00
Recommendations for Transport, Exhibition and Storage of Wax Moulages
Marcus Herdin, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München

15:30
Coffee Break

16:00
The Wax Moulages of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum: Damage Analysis, Treatment Catalogue and Conservation
Johanna Lang, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum

16:45
Further Education via Internet: E-Learning as a Contribution to the Conservation of Art Collections
Barbara Hentschel, Dr. Angela Weyer, Hornemann Institut Hildesheim

18:00
Guided Museum-Tours

SEPTEMBER 26, 2009, SATURDAY

9:00 -11:00
THE TECHNIQUES AND NATURE OF WAX MOULAGES
Chair: Dr. Michael Geiges

9:00
The Moulages of Richard Hoffman at the Wax Collection of Dermatology "Coriolan Tataru" in Cluj Napoca/Romania
Prof. Dr. Alexandru Tataru, Universität der Medizin und Pharmazie Cluj-Napoca

9:30
The Moulages of Alfons Kroener and Paul Berliner at the Institute for Dermatology of the University of Wroclaw/Poland
Dr. Rafal Bialynicki-Birula, Medical University Wroclaw

10:00
Scientific Analysis of Wax Moulages: Composition and Damages
Dr. Patrick Dietemann, Ursula Baumer, Doerner Institut, München, Prof. Dr. Christoph Herm, Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden

11:00
Coffee Break

11:30-13:30
THE CUSTODY AND UTILIZATION OF WAX MOULAGES
Chair: Johanna Lang

11:30
On the Exhibition and Storage Situation of the Moulage Collection in the Andreas Sygros Hospital in Athens/Greece
Dr. Panagiota Emmanouil, Pedeli's Children Hospital, Athen

12:00
Custody and Utilization: The Moulage Collection at the National Museum for Pathology and Anatomy in Vienna/Austria
Dr. Beatrix Patzak, Pathologisch-Anatomisches Bundesmuseum Wien

12:30
Snacks/Refreshments

13:00
The Moulage Collection of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) -The Challenge of Transition from the Clinic to the Medical Historical Museum
Prof. Dr. Heinz-Peter Schmiedebach, Antje Zare, Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin, UKE

Comments
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schnalke und Susanne Roeßiger

Full info (and sign up!) here. Hope to see you there.

Image: From Anatomical Theatre exhibition: Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum (Pathologisch-anatomisches Bundesmuseum): Vienna, Austria; Wax moulages; Probably by Carl Henning (1860-1917) or Theodor Henning (1897-1946); Early 20th

Virtual Museum of Le Musée de l'Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris

All of the above images are sourced from the Virtual Museum of Le Musée de l'Hôpital Saint-Louis, which I found via the Titam et le Sirop d'Érable Blog. Click here to visit the virtual museum, find out more about the individual pieces, and see more moulages. Click here to see original post (translated from the French), which has a nice introduction to the collection and to Jules Baretta, the moulage artist who created the works. Click here to visit the website of Le Musée de l'Hôpital Saint-Louis.

Pathological Waxworks, "Palacio de la Escuela de Medicina", Mexico City

Morbid Anatomy reader Jason Plumb just alerted me to an amazing photoset (from which the above images are drawn) of pathological waxes on display at the Palacio de la Escuela de Medicina in Mexico City. The photos were taken by Daniel Menche, who apparently was commissioned to give a performance (!!!) in the museum!

You can read more about Menchel's experience on his blog by clicking here; you can see the whole photoset (which I highly recommend you do! This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg!) by clicking here. You can visit the museum website by clicking here.

Thanks, Jason, for sending this along!

Another Book for the Wishlist!

My Friend Marie just alerted me to the soon-to-be-published Ephemeral Bodies: Wax Sculpture and the Human Figure. Co-authored by Georges Didi-Huberman, author of another of my favorite (though very theory-heavy) books Invention of Hysteria: Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpetriere. This promises to be a good one; I seriously cannot wait (and have, in fact, already pre-ordered two copies!)

More on Anatomical Waxes...From an Unlikely Source

Bonnie Ruberg, authoress of The Village Voice's web column "Heroine Sheik: Sex, Gender, Tech, Culture, and Video Games," sent me this link to her musings on Florentine anatomical waxes. Following is my favorite quote, but check out the whole piece here.

The thing that really fascinates me about these figures, of course, isn’t their creepiness; it’s how they capture a set of historical ideas about sex, gender, and the female body in the form of “science.” It makes you wonder about scientific technology we have today. How is it biased? How does it reveal our own assumptions about sex and gender in between the lines of “fact”? And will it look quite so grotesque to museum-goers in another two or three hundred years?

Photo: 18th century Florentine obstetrical wax held in the Josephinum in Vienna.

The Art of Medical Models, via Metafilter

Check out this great posting on Meta Filter about The Art of Medical Models. Make sure to check out the comments as well.

Photos from my photography show Anatomical Theatre, on the very same (wonderful) topic. More photos here and here.

Popular Anatomical Waxworks Auction, Christie's, 2001

"A UNIQUE collection of 350 anatomical wax models which once travelled Europe as a carnival sideshow is expected to raise at least £300,000 at Christie's in London later this month."
--The Telegraph, December, 2001

"I saw men enter blind drunk and leave stone-cold sober."
--Lily Binda, remarking on her collection of anatomical waxes.

I think I am in love with Christie's Auction house. Today I came across an auction they hosted in 2001 called The William Bonardo Collection of Wax Anatomical Models, a private collection of anatomical waxes with a fascinating back story that amounts to a nice snapshot of the changing uses of anatomical waxes over time.

The William Bonardo Collection was originally assembled by Swiss Painter Leonce Schiffman in the early 20th century, and consisted of a variety of waxes covering topics from treppaning to syphillus and from childbirth to siamese twins, many of which were manufactured in Germany in the 19th century.This collection was later inherited by carnival freak show owner Lily Binda, who exhibited them at her show until legislation in the 1960s outlawed such displays. Binda then took her show on the road, creating an itinerant exhibition that toured the fairgrounds of Europe. Binda died 1980s; her husband put the collection, which had been stored at a warehouse in Switzerland, up for auction in 2001.

The collection looks like it was amazing, from what remains on the Christie's website and from the snapshots compiled on a website called "Corkscrew Balloon;" it is all the more remarkable for the fact that most popular anatomical artifacts were destroyed, seen as pornograpic or, at the least, unsavory, and this one appears to have survived intact and in excellent condition. I wonder where these objects now reside?

You can read more about the collection and its history in the Telegraph article Medical waxwork horrors come under the hammer. To read more about popular anatomy in general, check out Michael Sappol's amazing Morbid curiosity: The Decline and Fall of the Popular Anatomical Museum.