Article ID: CBB001022474

Matter of Fact: Biographies of Zoological Specimens (2009)

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"The Mandible of a Horse Grown in a Treeroot" and "Lupus Marinus" are zoological specimens that have traveled from collection to collection during their 300-year-long existence as objects of inquiry and display. They began their lives under the inquisitive eye of Ole Worm, but have led very different lives since---the Mandible has been rediscovered as a historical specimen after it was discarded as a zoological one, whereas "Lupus Marinus" has reincarnated under several species denominations and material bodies. Specimens began to be collected to be used in the production of scientific knowledge during the late Renaissance; they have since been seen as the vessels that carry the truth or fact of nature to the reach of the scientist. Under the scientist's gaze, the specimen is then studied with proper methods and instruments to reveal the secrets of nature it is seen to be in position to disclose. The biographies of these specimens are studied here in a preliminary effort to understand how specimens are used in a collection environment, how and why they are used in the production of knowledge and how these functions of the specimen may change over time.

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Description On “The Mandible of a Horse Grown in a Treeroot” and “Lupus Marinus,” zoological specimens with a 300-year-long history in various collections.


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Authors & Contributors
MacGregor, Arthur G.
Klemun, Marianne
Anaïs Mauuarin
Troelenberg, Eva-Maria
Gahtan, Maia
Sánchez-Jáuregui, María Dolores
Concepts
Collectors and collecting
Museums
Specimens
Material culture
Natural history
Science and culture
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century
17th century
20th century, early
Early modern
Places
Melanesia
England
Netherlands
Portugal
Germany
Europe
Institutions
Hunterian Museum (London)
East India Company (English)
Pitt Rivers Museum (University of Oxford)
Royal College of Surgeons, London
Oxford University
Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro
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