Siren of the Fiji Islands Rare taxidermy montage... Lot 24

Siren of the Fiji Islands Rare taxidermy montage consisting of the torso and head of a young monkey attached to the back of a fish, the whole partially covered with papier-mâché. H. 7 cm W. 21 cm D. 5 cm Provenance : > Private collection, Paris The first mermaid specimen in Fiji was created by the American entertainer Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) for use in carnivals, and is believed to represent the mummified body of a mermaid. His invention was reported for the very first time in the New York Sunday Herald on July 17, 1842, before being exhibited in the Concert Hall on Broadway and then at the American Museum in New York for several weeks. Until the end of the 19th century, the Sirens of the Fiji Islands were the talk of the town and an inspiration for future science fiction writers. (Source: Peter Dance, Faux Animals, Scams and Mystifications, Pierre Horay, Paris, 1978)