Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-07-31
BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS.
THE WONDERFUL WORK IN A
NEW YORK MUSEUM.
What Two Famous English Modelers
Have Accomplishments Realistic
Representation of Natu-
raj History.


dinner after her coronation in the
guildhall. in front of her plate was
big salver OF peaches resting upon
quantity of flowers. These were so
beautiful and apparently so rare that
the Queen, raising one of them TO her
nostrils. attempted TO enjoy its fra
GRANGE. What was her surprise, now
ever, when she saw that the blossom
she had admired so much was artificial
and learned that it was the work of
children none of whom was more than
II years old!
| These were the first results of this
family's art to be publicly recognized.
The Queen at once appreciated the ex-
cellence of their handicraft and she
appointed the two brothers-H. and j.
ii. Mintorn-royal modelers. The
sister, only years old, assisted her
! brothers then, but in after years be-
came even more famous than they
were for the marvellous delicacy of her
work
All of this was done in wax. Every
one knows how fragile this is, how
susceptible it is to climatic influences,
| how under certain conditions of tenn
perature, the wax will crack and break
without being touched. The necessity
of finding some material which was
durable, in fact indestructible, so that
their productions should be no longer
! ephemeral, led to the invention of q
fabric which, while ii could be worked
as readily as wax, should last as long
as canvas. So they took the finest of
silk Isle, and with a solution of wax,
chemically prepared by themselves,
they coated this and produced a ma
terial which they stilLuse and of which
their work in the South Kensington
and Central Park is made
The making of the group of song
birds in Central Park was begun and
carried forward with very distinct
central idea in view. The attempt
was TO be made to illustrate the most
interesting phase of bird life. That is
the nesting habits of the species, by
actual fac-similes from life. This in
cluded the transferring to the museum
of the branch on which the nest was
built and reproducing each leaf, flow
err and twig artidcially with the great
est accuracy as TO all its details of
color size and position, and substitute
ing it for the perishable natural one.
In the instances of the grOund-nestiug
species a square yard of the original
sod is taken, with all its varied vegeta-
ton, and it is reproduced in all of its
natural detail.
The nests in most cases have never
been removed from their natural posi-
ton. where they were placed by the
birds themselves, whether on the
ground or on branch. For the most
part the birds which constructed the
nest are given with them. The
popularity of this method of illustrat-
ing bird life in this way began with
Mr.. Mintorn and Mrs. Mogridge. In
1877 Theodore Walker of Leicester,
England, having pheasants nest
taken on his estate, sent to these
artists to have its natural surround
ings reproduced. These consisted of
primroses, bluebells ferns. grasses,
etc. The nest thus completed was
sent Us present to the British Muse
UNI. The novelty of the work and OF
the idea at once interested the muse
um authorities. who thereupon engag-
ed the family to do their famous work
in the South Kensington.
The completion of a single case is a
work of infinite detail. Each blade of
grass, each twig, each blossom has to
be modelled with as much care as
though they and not the bird were the
things to be illustrated. The neces-
sity for this is obvious. The great
mass of persons is attracted more by
the brightly colored blossoms and
grasses, in which they find features
that are thoroughly familiar than
they are by the bird, of which they
; know comparatively little. Conse-
quently the success of the entire work
is dependent upon the environments
rather than upon the subject of the
study.
The working tools of these artists
are of the simplest character. The
chief among them is long bodkin-like
piece of steel, on one end of which is a
small porcelain or ivory ball. Take a
woman's hat pin and you have an idea
of just what it is. The piece of wax
covered silk, which is to form the
petal or leaf is cut to about the
proper dimensions and placed in the
palm OF the hand, whose warmth per-
} mits perfect manipulation. Then the
artist takes her bodlSin in her hand
} and with the ball-like end models the
fabric into the shape she desires. This
once done the trimming Of the waxed
silk takes place and the coloring be-
gins. This is done with water colors.
Here comes, then, the necessity for
these modelers to not alone have a
most exquisite perception of form, but
the sense of color so refined that the
exact shade of leaf or petal may be
reproduced. So perfect is this work
that in taking two leaves, the artificial
and the natural one, at distance IL is
almost impossible to tell the difference.
The shading is well nigh perfect, the
blending of the colors of the already
sere leaf with such portions as have
not yet become blighted, the delicate
differences of tint which progress from