TASMANIAN ANIMALS
EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM.
WORK OF HOBART GIRL.
There has recently been added to the collection of Tasmanian animals, at the Tasmanian Museum very fine specimens of the thylacine (wolf), brush opossum, wombat and forester kangaroo. They are the work of Miss Alison M. Reid, the daughter of Mr. A. R. Reid, director of the Hobart Zoo. Taxidermy is an art with which women hitherto have been little concerned, and this exhibit is the first to be prepared by one, and displayed in the Museum. Miss Reid has had the advantage of studying this art under the direction of her father, who became a taxidermist as a boy in Scotland, receiving tuition under one of the foremost biologists, in the land. Although he himself is skilled in taxidermy, he confesses that his daughter’s work is the superior. Many excellent specimens adorn his house as well as the office at the zoo, such as the heads and antlers of deer and samples of Tasmanian animals, which are the clever handiwork of Miss Reid. It is an occupation which not only calls for artistic expression, but also a close study of wild animals, in order to capture their most characteristic postures and attitudes, so that these may be reflected in the mounted specimens. The authorities of the Museum are pleased with the specimens. The forester kangaroo is particularly true to life, and the same might be said of the opossum, which has been mounted on a branch, and of the immature wombat. Miss Reid’s artistic talent assisted her materially in preparing the specimen of the thylacine, the skin of which has been mounted on a plaster cast in true representation of life. These exhibits are in the main room in the ground floor of the Museum.
EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM.
WORK OF HOBART GIRL.
There has recently been added to the collection of Tasmanian animals, at the Tasmanian Museum very fine specimens of the thylacine (wolf), brush opossum, wombat and forester kangaroo. They are the work of Miss Alison M. Reid, the daughter of Mr. A. R. Reid, director of the Hobart Zoo. Taxidermy is an art with which women hitherto have been little concerned, and this exhibit is the first to be prepared by one, and displayed in the Museum. Miss Reid has had the advantage of studying this art under the direction of her father, who became a taxidermist as a boy in Scotland, receiving tuition under one of the foremost biologists, in the land. Although he himself is skilled in taxidermy, he confesses that his daughter’s work is the superior. Many excellent specimens adorn his house as well as the office at the zoo, such as the heads and antlers of deer and samples of Tasmanian animals, which are the clever handiwork of Miss Reid. It is an occupation which not only calls for artistic expression, but also a close study of wild animals, in order to capture their most characteristic postures and attitudes, so that these may be reflected in the mounted specimens. The authorities of the Museum are pleased with the specimens. The forester kangaroo is particularly true to life, and the same might be said of the opossum, which has been mounted on a branch, and of the immature wombat. Miss Reid’s artistic talent assisted her materially in preparing the specimen of the thylacine, the skin of which has been mounted on a plaster cast in true representation of life. These exhibits are in the main room in the ground floor of the Museum.
The Mercury (Hobart, Tas: 1860 – 1954) Fri 29 Oct 1926, Page 8
