Accession No
6165
Brief Description
papier mâché zoological model of a silkworm (Bombyx sericaria), in box, by Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux, French, late 19th to early 20th Century
Origin
France; Saint-Aubin-d'Écrosville [attributed]
Maker
Auzoux, Louis Thomas Jérôme
Class
demonstration; natural history
Earliest Date
1848
Latest Date
1920
Inscription Date
Material
Paper (papier mâche); plaster; wood; metal (brass)
Dimensions
Length 795mm; width 125mm; height 173mm (box)
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Trevor Waterman, Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd, 75A, Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6NP on or before 28/08/2007. Purchased with the aid of a grant from the PRISM fund.
Inscription
Description Notes
Papier mâché zoological model of a silk worm (Bombyx sericaria), in box, by Auzoux, French, late 19th to early 20th century.
Silkworm body made of papier mâche, painted pale green. Top half of body can be removed (held in place by a number of brass pins, plus hooks to hold body shut) to reveal anatomy of insect, including muscles, nerves, air vessels, viscera, and the silk-producing apparatus.
Condition: fair - considerable flaking of paint on outer body of the worm.
References
Events
Description
This model shows the complete anatomy of the silkworm: muscles, nerves, air vessels, viscera, silk-producing apparatus and gland. After the first silkworm diseases appeared in 1845, the French silk industry began to decline. Silk textiles were increasingly imported from Asian countries and the local French silk industries never rebounded. The production of the silkworm model during a period of crisis in the industry may have cultural significance. Since the sixteenth century, Lyon had been the center of the European silk trade. Like many of Auzoux’s models, this example is clastic: the top can be removed to reveal the worm’s internal anatomy. 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.
05/11/2013
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 05/11/2013
FM:46628
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