AIC's 45th Annual Meeting

The Field Museum of Natural History recently opened a new diorama featuring four mammal specimens that had been previously exhibited in an oddly placed case situated among the reptile displays. After much consideration and visitor surveys, the Museum moved forward to create its first new habitat diorama in over 60 years, reinstalling an existing 1921 grouping of Striped Hyenas created by Carl Akeley into an original empty diorama cell. The project was funded by a successful Indiegogo campaign that raised funds from across the globe. Creating this new diorama involved the full scope of the museum's exhibition process as discussions and planning proceeded to design the habitat, add new specimens and create a space that would ensure their preservation. The Striped Hyenas are significant in terms of the history of taxidermy. They were collected, prepared and arranged for display by Carl Akeley, one of the most renowned American taxidermists. The decision to create the new habitat diorama allowed access to the hyenas for careful consideration of Akeley's (often secret) methods, materials and techniques for mounting and display of specimens. A small team of conservators and scientists collaborated to ensure that the hyenas were carefully treated and studied prior to installation. The treatment included many thoughtful choices. Primary were those related to the visual integrity of the specimens that resulted in the inpainting only the sides of the mounts seen by visitors. Further, the overall color balance for lighting the diorama was chosen to reduce the appearance of fading. Analysis, examination, cleaning and stabilization of the specimens revealed details about Akeley's methods that were previously unknown and presented new information about his taxidermy techniques. Visually disfiguring overpaint and damage previously attributed to pest activity was reconsidered in light of research revealing that deterioration during field preparation of freshly harvested mammalian skins can lead to hair slippage and overpainting during the mounting process. In spite of the tight time schedule for treatment and display construction, the group was able collect information about Carl Akeley's techniques that helped guide treatment choices and inform display conditions.