{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O62294"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O62294/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM5401/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM5401/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM5401","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM5402","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1904","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1905","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1906","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1907","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1908","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1909","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1910","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1911","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1912","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1913","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1914","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1915","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1916","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1917","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1918","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1919","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1920","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1921","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020ML1922","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O62294/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O62294","accessionNumber":"CIRC.19-1961","objectType":"Firescreen","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Screens</b>\nUsed to provide protection from draughts and the heat of fires, and/or for decoration, screens have been in use for centuries. In the Middle Ages they tended to be fixtures, whereas screens of many kinds were made after the Restoration. Those with uprights and a central panel became popular at this time, although the terms horse screen and cheval screen were not employed until later. Folding screens were also available, as were pole screens with tripod feet, but it was not until the first half of the eighteenth century that pole screens became common. Screen panels were often painted or decorated with needlework. In the early nineteenth century the traditional forms persisted while banner screens – which consisted of fabric suspended from a cross-bar on an upright pole - also became popular. Other nineteenth-century screen phenomena included horse screens featuring stuffed birds, such as CIRC.19-1961, a style foreshadowed by eighteenth-century feather-work screens.\r\n\n<b>Taxidermy </b>\r\nThe earliest surviving examples of taxidermy (stuffing the skins of animals) date back to the sixteenth century. Early on taxidermy was displayed in ‘Cabinets of Curiosities’. Over time these collections developed into private and public museums used for study. It was during the nineteenth century that taxidermy, practiced professionally and by amateurs, became extremely lucrative and widespread, and that there was high demand for naturalistic and decorative taxidermy. As animals began to be illustrated in more active stances, surrounded by other wildlife, and as more sophisticated taxidermy techniques developed, taxidermists started to present their subjects less stiffly, often in groups and alongside items such as artificial leaves. The 1851 Great Exhibition featured many examples of realistic and artistic taxidermy, increasing the interest in such work. Decorative taxidermy was driven more by beauty that truth to nature, although here too vitality and abundance were often emphasised. Sometimes amusement was the aim: ‘comic’ or ‘grotesque’ scenes showing gaming squirrels, fencing rats and the like satirised humans. Taxidermy was not, however, universally loved. Various groups concerned about animal cruelty and extinction - such as Fur, Fin and Feather Folk (1889) and Plumage League (1889) which were absorbed into the Society for the Protection of Birds (1891, from 1904 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) - formed in the nineteenth century. One of the RSPB’S major successes was the Importation of Plumage (Prohibition) Act, an act of United Kingdom legislation passed in 1921. In the latter half of the nineteenth century in particular birds were used extensively for domestic displays and fashion, especially colourful varieties such as hummingbirds and tanagers, collected from places including Central and South America and India. Realism tended to be eschewed: birds from different continents were regularly displayed together and the poses that birds were made to adopt were designed to show off their feathers rather than demonstrate avian anatomy.\r\n\r\n<b>Bird Screens</b>\r\nStuffed birds were regularly displayed in glass domes referred to as 'shades' and used on hats. Bird screens were also popular from the latter half of the nineteenth century into the Edwardian period. They were typically positioned in front of an inactive fireplace during the summer or used to flank the fireplace and they came in two dominant forms. Horse firescreens featuring glass cabinets containing birds were very popular. The frames tended to be made from turned and carved wood which was sometimes gilded or from dowel or bamboo. Alternatively, a large bird such as a peacock or a heron could be displayed on a stand, its wings and tail dramatically splayed out behind the head and breast. Numerous examples of the former type of screens, including CIRC.19-1961, have survived, whereas screens displaying a lone unprotected bird are now very rare. Although the carving on the frame of CIRC.19-1961 is not particularly intricate, the fact that the birds have a range of different eyes indicates that the piece was good quality and expensive. Birds, like humans, have different coloured eyes, but this was not always reflected in taxidermy because it was costly to carry a wide range of eye options. The maker of this screen is unknown, as is often the case with decorative nineteenth-century taxidermy. Such pieces were often made in London, by companies including Ashmead.\r\n\r\nThis object is likely to contain arsenic, which was commonly used in taxidermy for skin preservation and as an insecticide from the early nineteenth century until around the 1980s. Other hazards may also be present.  ","physicalDescription":"A horse or cheval firescreen on trestle supports. The uprights and crossbar - each one piece - have been turned, carved and gilded. The top ornament is a separate piece and is also gilded. Evidence of both water gilding and oil gilding can be found, in the form of red and yellow traces. The screen was probably water gilded originally then repaired with oil gilding in certain areas, probably in the nineteenth century. Some areas of the frame, including the leaves, may have previously been burnished.\r\n\r\nThe glass cabinet is set with stuffed birds mounted on branches with artificial leaves and moss. The case contains numerous hummingbirds and a wide range of other birds, most of which are male Neotropical species. There are twenty hummingbirds and sixteen other birds of thirteen species. Some of the species represented are currently decreasing in population size. From left to right, top to bottom, the birds featured in the screen, other than the numerous hummingbirds, are:\r\nParrotlet; <i>Forpus </i>(male)\nCommon Waxbill; <i>Estrilda astrild </i>(probably female or juvenile)\r\nGolden-headed Manakin; <i>Ceratopipra erthrpcephala </i>(two males)\r\nRed-capped Manakin; <i>Ceratopipra mentalis</i> (male)\r\nBrazillian Tanager; <i>Ramphocelus bresilius </i>(male)\r\nFlame-rumped Tanager; <i>Ramphocelus flammigerus iceronotus </i>(male)\r\nBlack-faced Dacnis; <i>Dacnis lineata egregia </i>(male)\nBrazillian Tanager; <i>Ramphocelus bresilius </i>(male)\r\nRed-headed Lovebird; <i>Agapornis pullarius </i>(one female, one male)\r\nRed-legged Honeycreeper; <i>Cyanerpes cyaneus </i>(male)\r\nGreen Broadbill; <i>Calyptomena viridis </i>(male)\nGreen Honeycreeper; <i>Chlorophanes spiza </i>(male)\r\nWire-tailed Manakin; <i>Pipra fillicauda</i> (male)\r\nSpotted Tanager; <i>Tangara punctata </i>(probably male)\r\nWe are very grateful to Mark Adams (Senior Curator, Bird Group, Department of Life Sciences) at the Natural History Museum, England for identifying the species in 2019.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Soft-wood","id":"AAT12510"},{"text":"Glass","id":"AAT10797"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Turning","id":"AAT53158"},{"text":"Joinery","id":"x36614"},{"text":"Gilding","id":"AAT53789"},{"text":"Taxidermy","id":"AAT53628"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Turned, carved and gilded wood, water gilding and oil gilding, the panel glazed and set with stuffed birds mounted on branches with artificial leaves and moss. In the nineteenth century it was recognised that decay and pest infestation would be less likley if birds were properly skinned and stripped of all meat and fat before they were stuffed. Arsenic was commonly used for skin preservation and as an insecticide in taxidermy from the early nineteenth century (until around the 1980s).","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Household objects","id":"THES48939"},{"text":"Animals and Wildlife","id":"THES250852"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AM5401","2006AM5402","2020ML1904","2020ML1905","2020ML1906","2020ML1907","2020ML1908","2020ML1909","2020ML1910","2020ML1911","2020ML1912","2020ML1913","2020ML1914","2020ML1915","2020ML1916","2020ML1917","2020ML1918","2020ML1919","2020ML1920","2020ML1921","2020ML1922"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341880"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Firescreen","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c. 1850-1860","earliest":"1845-01-01","latest":"1860-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"CIRC.19A-1961","id":"O354183"},"association":"Case"}],"creditLine":"Given by Miss Bainbridge","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"122","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"70.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"36.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from departmental catalogue. \r\nChecked on object by FC / LW 26.1.10","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Given by Miss Bainbridge.\r\n\r\nHugh Wakefield, who was the Keeper of the Circulation Department between 1960 and 1976, described the screen as 'a fine piece of Victoriana' during the acquisition process.\r\n\r\nRegistered Papers for acquisition: 60/3728.\n\nThe screen appeared in V&amp;A Exhibition 'Inventing New Britain: The Victorian Vision', which ran from April to July 2001. See papers 2000/385.\r\n\r\nAlso see papers 1989/293, which relate to a long-term loan of V&amp;A Furniture, Textiles &amp; Fashion objects to Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council at Bramall Hall.\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Horse firescreen, the uprights and crossbar turned, carved and gilded, the glass cabinet set with stuffed birds including hummingbirds, probably England, c. 1850-1860","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Cohen, Deborah. <i>Household Gods: The British and their Possessions</i>. London: Yale University Press, 2006. p. 38, fig. 30."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"\r\nEhrman, Edwina, ed. <i>Fashioned from Nature</i>. London: V&A Publishing, 2018. (See for information about use of animals for fashion and those who opposed it)\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"MacQuoid, Percy, and Ralph Edwards. ‘Screens’. In vol. 3, <i>The Dictionary of English Furniture: From the Middle  Ages to the Late Georgian Period</i> , pp. 56-68. Revised and enlarged by Ralph Edwards. 1924-7; Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1954. (See for the history of screens)\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Montague Browne, Alexander. <i>Practical Taxidermy: A Manual of Instruction to the Amateur in Collecting, Preserving, and Setting up Natural History Specimens of All Kinds.</i> London: F. Phillips, 1878. (See for historical context)\n\nMontague Browne describes three types of bird screens on pages 121 and 122. He discusses ‘handsome “screens” for the mantlepiece’ displaying a bird’s stuffed head and breast and splayed wings and tail mounted on an ivory or wood handle and small  padded and covered piece of oval-shaped deal. These could be ‘made up from owls, hawks, seagulls, and a variety of  other birds’. ‘[S]ingle large birds, such as the peacock, or swan and heron’ could be ‘stuffed in the same manner as  above, but instead of being attached to handles should be attached to a shield of some fancy wood, the back of which  must be polished, and made to slide up and down on an upright standard, springing from carved legs’. Montague  Browne also described ‘Still more handsome screens … intended to flank the fireplace’ showing ‘Hummingbirds or  insects’ in ‘ovals of glass, set in carved or gilded frames, which are made to slide up or down on a standard or  upright, supported by a carved tripod’. \n\nOther forms of taxidermy covered in this publication include ‘Kittens or puppies of a few days old' which 'if nicely marked' can be 'stuffed and mounted on a piece of marble for paper weights, or on red cloth for pen wipers’  (p. 121) and ‘Comic Groups’ that ‘caricature the manners and customs of the human subject’. ‘Squirrels playing at cards, monkeys as shoemakers, rats fencing’ were some of the ‘usual comicalities depicted’ (p. 117)."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Morris, Pat. <i>A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste</i>. Ascot: MPM, 2010. (See for the history of taxidermy - bird screens discussed p. 119)\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hornaday, William T. (main author) and W. J Holland (chapters on collecting and preserving insects). <i>Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting: A Complete Handbook for the Amateur Taxidermist, Collector, Osteologist, Museum-Builder, Sportsman, and Traveller</i>. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1891. (See for historical context)"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"birds","id":"x35043"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["CIRC.19-1961"],"accessionNumberNum":"19","accessionNumberPrefix":"CIRC","accessionYear":1961,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-20","recordCreationDate":"2001-08-23","availableToBook":true}}