Tuesday, August 12, 2008

PT BARNUM ZOMBIE


Here isPT Barnum as a zombie with his little FeeJee Mermaid. This is for the Night of the Living Artist Show in Chicago from Oct 10-31.
Here's what Wikipedia says about PT Barnum and his FeeJee Mermaid
The original exhibit was popularized by circus great P.T. Barnum, but has since been copied many times in other attractions, including the collection of famed showman Robert Ripley. The original exhibit was shown around the United States, but was supposedly lost in the 1860s when Barnum's museum caught fire. The exhibit has since been acquired by Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and is currently housed in the museum's attic storage area.
The Fiji mermaid came into Barnum's possession via his Boston counterpart Moses Kimball, who brought it down to Barnum in late spring of 1842. On June 18, Barnum and Kimball entered into a written agreement to exploit this "curiosity supposed to be a mermaid." Kimball would remain the creature's sole owner and Barnum would lease it for $12.50 a week. Barnum christened his artifact "The Feejee Mermaid" and began to "puff" her to the skies. In Barnum's exhibit, the mermaid was allegedly caught in 1842 by a "Dr. J. Griffin." Griffin was actually Levi Lyman, one of Barnum's close associates.


PT Barnum

FeeJee (Fiji, Feegee) Mermaid
Robyn Fabsits

7 comments:

dollsforfriends said...

Fantastic Work-really love this piece! I just learned about the feejee mermaid a few days ago, and now her she is! Great job!

Leeanna Butcher said...

Amazing as always! Love this piece!

Jessica said...

This is so awesome! I love zombie plush, and this is one of the best I have ever seen. Such a fun concept behind that exhibit too. I'm jealous! :)

Erin said...

This is AWESOME. I'm at a loss for words. In a good way.

Anonymous said...

The cutest zombie I've seen! The feegee mermaid is just adorable. I always felt bad for the poor thing.

Absolutely Small said...

Wow! Completely amazing work, as always. This is really excellent!

Sayraphim said...

Oh, that's brilliant! Barnam and zombies all in one. Congratulations! I love it!

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