Accession No
5363
Brief Description
papier mâché botanical model of a wheat grain, by Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux, French, c. 1880
Origin
France
Maker
Auzoux, Louis Thomas Jérôme
Class
biology; demonstration
Earliest Date
1870
Latest Date
1900
Inscription Date
Material
paper (paper mâche, card); metal (brass); paint
Dimensions
length 215mm; depth 105mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Trevor Philip & Sons, 75a Jermyn Street, St James, London, England on 02/02/1999. 22 Botanical models were purchased as one lot. Purchased with grant aid from PRISM fund administered by the Science Museum.
Inscription
Description Notes
Papier mâché botanical model of a grain de blé (wheat grain), by Auzoux, French, c. 1880.
On the case of the grain is a paper label with a blue border and handwritten in side of the border is the number 371.
The model separates in to two pieces, one half consists of two quarters held together by brass hinges and a metal rod. The complete half has paper mâche constructed in a layered manner to expose the different membranes of the grain. Held between the two halves is the embryon which itself is able to be disassembled into two halves.
Labelled parts are with both handwritten and type written text, the typewritten a later addition. Small labels depicting hands indicate where to disassemble and reasemble the model.
The construction and the presence of hands on the model suggest that it is by Auzoux, France.
Condition good to fair. Outer layers of the grain are slightly torn and tattered. Paint flaking in places.
References
Events
Description
The grain of wheat model was likely produced by Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux (1797–1880) as a teaching and reference model for botany students. Institutions, such as Cornell University and Mount Holyoke in the United States, purchased models such as these to demonstrate their ability to compete against established teaching programmes and to circumvent traditional modes of acquiring botanical knowledge. The wheat grain separates into two pieces to expose the different membranes of its internal structure. Like many of Auzoux’s models, this example is clastic: it has three detachable pieces. As a medical student in Paris, Auzoux developed a special papier-mâché mixture (containing cork and clay as well as paper and glue) in order to produce anatomical models that could be taken apart piece by piece. After establishing a commercially successful factory in St. Aubin d’Ecrosville that produced clastic models of human anatomy, Auzoux’s company expanded to include examples of animals and plants.
08/07/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 08/07/2014
FM:45722
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