By Ben Marks — During Queen Victoria’s long and productive reign, from 1837 to 1901, countless buildings, books, and pieces of furniture were erected, written, and manufactured. Though the monarch did not invent Queen Anne Revival style, pen , or decree that otherwise comfortable sofas should be crowned with unyielding rims of carved hardwood, causing untold bumps on untold numbers of unsuspecting noggins, we routinely classify this varied output as Victorian Architecture, Victorian Literature, and...

Where Have the Carousel Animals Gone? Antique Merry-Go-Rounds Fight Extinction

By Lisa Hix — Try to call up a childhood memory of riding the merry-go-round: the lights, the mirrors, the band organ playing circus tunes. Do you remember what the horse you rode looked like, how well its musculature was delineated, or what was carved behind the saddle? Can you visualize the art on the structure itself, such as gargoyles and paintings of landscapes? "The carousel carvers really let their chisels go wild here." You probably can't recall the specific details, which is why you might not...

Taxidermy Comes Alive! On the Web, the Silver Screen, and in Your Living Room

By Lisa Hix — "Taxidermy is never a mundane science," Rachel Poliquin wrote in her 2009 essay, “Immortal Beauties,” on photographer Mary Frey's ongoing taxidermy ambrotype project "Imagining Fauna." "It is the queasy art of seeing what would not, should not, be seen. It is the art of extending animal form beyond its natural lifespan." Poliquin, a life-long taxidermy connoisseur and scholar from Vancouver, taps into the peculiar yearning this art form evokes in her upcoming Penn State Press book, . For...

The Folklore and Fashion of Japanese Netsuke

By Maribeth Keane and Ben Marks — When men wore kimono in the 17th century, they had hanging containers and pouches called sagemono and stacked containers called inrō in which to carry small personal items. The containers hung by a cord that was attached to a small carving which was slipped underneath the kimono sash at the hip. This carving was called a netsuke and its mass would prevent the cord of the hanging container from slipping out from beneath the sash. Initially, the container cords were tied to small readily...