The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-03-22
FAMOUS SNAKE ARTIST WHO
LIVES IN THESE ISLANDS

~ NtAo iAd magazine mas the IOt
lowing about John w. Thompson who
Tor year or more past. has been liv
ing on the shores of Pearl Harbor:
. One of the most remarkable cases o
natural genius recorded in art annal
is that Of Mr.. John W. Thompson, tn.
keeper of the reptile-house at thu
geological Gardens, Philadelphia.
Despite his humble station in If,
Mr. Thompson is painter and sculptor
of ability, and has, moreover, invented
what is practically new art Snakes
are his speciality, and the state of per-
lection to which he has brought the ar
of reptile painting is truly wonderful
First he makes casts of them and Their
paints in their natural colors, getting
a result which is simply startling in
its wonderful accuracy.
His work has attracted general at
tention, and Mr.. Thompson has lately
heen commissioned by the Smithsonian
| Institution to execute some casts for the
national collection. The contract was
Iorly awarded after experts had care
fully investigated the subject and ex-
amined Mr.. Thompson's work. Their
verdict was that no living artist could
compare with him in this special line,
and as a consequence no one else was
considered.
It is a fact little known that the
keepers room at the Zoo is the studio
| of one of the most remarkable sculp-
tors and painters recorded in the art
annals of Pennsylvania.
| Until the ambitious and art-loving
keeper discovered the possibility of
allying the two arts-moulding and
painting-in order to secure truthful
reproductions of snakes of all varieties
in characteristic coils and attitudes,
the only known methods of preserva-
ton to future generations for study,
a record of the different species of rep
tiles now existing, but rapidly becon-
ing extinct, was through the medium
Of paintings or by keeping their dead
bodies in alcohol. The disadvantages
of these methods can readily be seen.
A painting conveys but a poor idea of
the size and general shape, while in the
case of preservation in alcohol no idea
of the. natural colours could be re-
tanned. for they fade and lose all brill
liancy in a very short time. Mr..
Thompson's discoveries have worked a
practical revolution in this branch of
what may be advisedly termed scien-
tific at.
The finished products of the keeper
artist are simply startling in their ac-
curacy, and at glance it is practical
ly impossible to distinguish the life |
like painted casts. coiled and poised as !
# ready to strike, from real reptiles.
Mr. Thompson's work has been at /
tracing the general attention of nat I
uralists and art connoisseurs from all /
over the country and much curiosity
has been aroused by the fact that a
man of such exceptional talent should
be passing the greater part of his in
time in discharging the oner-
Gus duties of a keeper. The story is
one of absorbing interest, and the
career life-struggles, and ambitions of
the artist-keeper would make a TO-
nance worthy of a master of fiction. h
Mr. Thompson's den, which is almost
rs interesting as himself, is a small j
room about eight feet square, opening
from the main reptile hall. This is his
studio: it is here that he works, and
every operation, from the first securing
IF the cast to it's painting and final
completion, is here performed. Every
hing in the little room is character
site Of the man and his work The
/ Z
lasts of snakes and reptiles. There
ire copperheads. rattlers, a gigantic
;alamander, frogs, fishes, and lizards.
n addition to these are some really
EXCELLENT landscape paintings and
rawlings in black and white, which :
Indicate that Mr.. Thompson mi ght have
urned his attention to either of these
with every prospect of SUE :
ess. Snakes. however, are his special :
y his mania. his Iife-work, and at
rst the visitor to the little room is ;
-ent in a state bordering on nervous :
enentia. by successive shocks result
aa from the close proximity of life
Ike figures of the most venomous and
angerous reptiles. All the snakes are
of plaster however, for in several
oxes bearing the menacing label, :
are hundreds of little rat
esnakes and copperheads from
lches to 10 inches long. :
Mr.. Thompson was busily engaged u
n1tting the finishing touches on a
eautifully marked Arizona rattiesnake' {,
,t willingly gave some interesting de- VI
Ills concerning his methods of work a
M his career He is a man who would
+tract attention in any company-tali. II
,werfully built, with a fnely-shaped a
,ad. a strong face, and pair or olue .
-es which fairly kindle when he dis y
,sses his art The snakes, whicn are il'
garded by the average person as al
,o,,+ the lowest and most forbiddins N
ament of creation, have no repuislon
r Mr.. Thompson, who studies their Ii
erature with avidfty, and by reason OF
his constant association with them W.
;. twenty wears has come to be con- pa
,arad an authority on everything per-
ming TO snakes and snake-life. In III
, oninion.' he said, "a snake Is the IN
,st remarkable Of all the many mani
stations of the wonderful powers OF III
tire Look at it's construction We
,a+ a model of light, sinewy strength' an
rfectIy adapted to the mode OF hIe- IA IA
NV varieties have lfttle peculiaritieS GO,
anted to their varying physical cnar- OF
-eristics. For instance, the rattle -
Ike. being somewhat slow In It's
vements. is provided with the rat an
the warning sound Of which pre- dr'
rs other animals from stepping On
water-snakes have in the nostrlls tut
sort of valve which absolutely pre- prt
IT'S the taking of water into the fie'
&C T. l.,