Category Archives: Wonder Cabinets

Wonder Cabinets, Kunstkammer, Cabinets of curiosities, etc.

Curiouser and curiouser: Purcell, Svankmajer, Crowley

Posted on June 16, 2007 by cicada

Alice (film, 1988)Jan SvankmajerIn the Boston Review, celebrated fantasy author John Crowley (Little, Big) reviews the photography/art of Rosamond Purcell (I blogged about Purcell’s photography for National Geographic and her 2006 book, Bookworm, last fall). Crowley says: Rosamond Purcell’s photographs—all still … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Books, Film, Video & Music, Wonder Cabinets | 4 Comments

Bodyscope 1935: Man, Woman, and a dash of dated rhetoric

Posted on June 11, 2007 by cicada

Bodyscope Anatomical Chart, 1935 approximately 20″ x 16″ Ralph H. Segal, Bodyscope Publications Inc., Educational Building, 70 5th Ave., NYC From 1935, two ornate Bodyscope teaching charts. Three windows in each chart allow a cutaway view of the torso and … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Museum Lust, Science, Wonder Cabinets | Comments Off

Cabinet of Monstrosities

Posted on June 9, 2007 by cicada

Avaritia/Jose Hajime Emoto, 2005 Quick quiz: can you list the seven deadly sins?

Posted in Artists & Art, Wonder Cabinets | 5 Comments

Recent blog buzz on anatomical models

Posted on May 31, 2007 by cicada

Anatomical Venus Wax Model at the Semmelweiss Medical Museum by Curious Expeditions Some posts on one of my favorite topics: first, Curious Expeditions had a first-hand account of a visit to the Josephinum. Then, Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Destinations, Museum Lust, Science, Wonder Cabinets | 3 Comments

Muskrat (Skull) Love

Posted on May 21, 2007 by cicada

Muskrat Box Ron Pippin I have not gotten a single thing done today, because I’ve spent hours browsing the archive of assemblage artist Ron Pippin. Has there ever been a more charming collection of steampunk-influenced taxidermical wonder-boxes?

Posted in Artists & Art, Museum Lust, Wonder Cabinets | 5 Comments

There’s a dinner on my spider

Posted on May 9, 2007 by cicada

dinner, salad, and dessert plates Laura Zindel Laura Zindel Ceramics My friend Lorraine alerted me to this amazing ceramic tableware by Laura Zindel. Zindel says: I believe that some objects can carry a personal history through a family from year … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Frivolity, Wonder Cabinets | 6 Comments

Antikamnia: memento mori in advertising

Posted on May 3, 2007 by cicada

Illustrations for Antikamnia Chemical Company Calendars, 1900 & 1897 Louis Crucius, ~1890 BibliOdyssey turned up this wicked advertising campaign by turn-of-the-century pharmaglomerate Antikamnia Chemical Company. The calenders were targeted at medical professionals, not the average consumer, for whom I presume … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Frivolity, Museum Lust, Science, Wonder Cabinets | 5 Comments

Half a million buys a lot of bones

Posted on April 17, 2007 by cicada

Mammoth skeleton sets auction record – Boston.com On Monday, a rare Siberian mammoth skeleton sold for nearly half a million dollars at auction. The skeleton was inexplicably named “The President.” A number of other curiosity-cabinet staples, like a bezoar, also … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Museum Lust, Science, Wonder Cabinets | 2 Comments

Vampire Hunting, Victorian-Style

Posted on March 15, 2007 by cicada

A vampire-hunting kit, from Thomas Sandberg’s Wonder Cabinet: An incredible Victorian novelty. Complete in mahogany box with revolver, silver bullets, garlic powder, silver dagger, ivory cross, mirror, Professor Blomberg`s New Vampire Serum, wooden stake, etc. Fortunately, Clive Thompson assures us … Continue reading →

Posted in Museum Lust, Wonder Cabinets | 3 Comments

Buy yourself a “Cabinet of Curiosities”

Posted on March 13, 2007 by cicada

I can’t justify purchasing all the expensive science and art books I really want, so they languish on my Amazon wishlist forever. A case in point would be Patrick Mauries’s Cabinets of Curiosities, an oversized hardbound book with lots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Wonder Cabinets | 1 Comment