Fénykövi Elephant, NHB Rotunda

Summary

J. J. Fénykövi, a European big-game hunter, donated a 2-ton elephant hide to the National Museum of Natural History in 1958. William Brown, Smithsonian, chief taxidermist, and Norman Deaton mounted the exhibit after a tanner scraped and soaked the hide to make it thin and pliable. Brown observed the habits of elephants to create a scientifically accurate model of an elephant moving at a fast walk, trunk lifted and ears fanned out. The elephant was unveiled in the rotunda of Natural History in March 1959. View shows visitors on balcony of rotunda looking down on the elephant.

Subject

• Deaton, Norman
• Fénykövi, Josef J
• Brown, William L
• National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 33, Folder: 29

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1978

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Hunting and gathering societies
• Employees
• Museums
• Rotundas
• Fénykövi Elephant
• Elephants
• Taxidermy
• Animals
• Smithsonian Institution
• Personnel management
• Specimens
• Exhibitions
• National Collections
• Museum visitors
• Smithsonian Institution--Employees
• Hunters

Form/Genre

• Photographic print
• Exhibit

ID Number

78-18434-6A or SIA78-18434-06A

Physical description

Color: Black and White; Size: 10w x 8h; Type of Image: Exhibit; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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