I'm Dreaming of a White Taxidermy Christmas

Nothing says snowy white winter here in Southern California like lovely white taxidermy!

Some of my favorite things are my white and albino taxidermy animals.

 

They go so well with sun bleached skulls and white Parian mourning statues.

They are so perfect next to dark coffins and pale white bones.

I'm also very fond of the Woodland-Invades-the-Edwardian-Parlor theme.

 This lovely antique cased owl was a recent trade.

 I love how it looks displayed with the death's head moth and the Victorian taxidermy birds.

 Majolica vases with Renaissance ladies add a nice touch of jewel colors.

A lovely vintage photo of Evelyn Nesbit in a Japanese kimono with her languid gaze.

Queen of the Prairie Dogs!

 I'm not sure that headless child mannequins quite go with this theme, but they insist on hanging around.

Over by my case of white taxidermy stands my antique taxidermy African Wild dog.  He came from a Belgian natural history museum that was closing down.  He is of Victorian vintage, as is the full-body striped hyena that I bought from that same collection.

Very spooky huge taxidermy piece!

 That concludes this little visit to my parlor.

 Miss Havisham wishes each and every one of you a very Merry Hexmas and a cool Yule!

Pandora's Parlor on Science Channel's Death Dealers

In case you missed it, my collection was featured on the Science Channel's pilot series "Death Dealers."  I put together a little clip showing the part I was on which featured a death mask.  There is more to the show including a fun part about antique hearses.  At the end of the show the Death Dealers have a forensic expert take a look at the death mask I sold them and the expert confirms that it is indeed a death mask and that it is quite old as I suspected - at least 150 years old!  He also goes into interesting details about how the person likely died.  Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes

I have a tiny table set up in a corner of my room full of odd things and this is where I take the pictures for my website.  It is a very small space and I have the table covered with black fabric and keep several props around, books and old photos, things to use in the photos.  I have an old 1920s poseable desk lamp for lighting and that's about it - very bare bones.  Well guess who likes to see what's going on with whatever I'm doing, especially when I'm back in the room full of mysterious things?  Morticia!  So of course one must put the pictures on hold and let her explore ...

 I enjoy buying and selling macabre items, but nothing compares with the fun of my kitties!  This is for all of my cat-loving people out there : - )

New Items! Antique Taxidermy Moray Eel, Wicked Wasp's Nest, Plaster Teeth, Antique Memorial Photo with Lock of Hair, Antique Funeral Director's Metal Box, Taxidermy Albino Muskrat, Antique Anatomy Book, Antique Taxidermy Bird Form, Antique Funeral Urn

 New items just added to my website.  Some of these are from my own collection.  I need to make some space on my shelves for all the great things I have been finding and I find that with fun creepy antiques coming and going, I can let go of some things that I was hanging onto.

Antique taxidermy Moray Eel.  This is a really fun piece!  It reminds me of the sand worms in Beetlejuice : - )

 I love the face on this guy.

 Look at those teeth!

 A taxidermy eel is a great addition to any creepy collection.  You can find it here on my website.

 And here's one I was hanging onto, a wicked wasp's nest.

 This one is particularly beautiful with the really cool branch that it is on.

 

 A wasp's nest makes a great display piece with other strange natural things in your collection.

You can find it here on my website.

And here are my favorite pair of vintage plaster teeth.

 Vintage dental items are fun.  This pair always looks like it is smiling.

 The subtle pink paint for the gums on these is really nice.  You can find these here on my website.

Another cool item, just in, is this antique framed memorial photo of a baby with a lock of the baby's hair inside the frame under the glass.

 It is a lovely little piece in its original oval frame with old wavy glass.  You can find it here on my website.

Antique funeral director's metal box.

 No telling what Luther H Hall kept in here ...

 Maybe just some cash, but possibly something much darker ...  You can find it here on my website.

 And here's something from my white taxidermy collection.  A vintage taxidermy albino muskrat.

 I love white taxidermy and am always on the lookout for more white animals.

 This vintage piece has the beedy red eyes so it is my favorite kind of white taxidermy, albino taxidermy.

This cute fellow is available here on my website.

Another of my favorite things is this super cool old anatomy booklet.  It is dated 1926 and I believe it is in written in Polish (thanks Anna!).  The guy with the veins on the front is awesome!

 It has several pages of text and b/w illustrations at the front ...

 And then the back is a fold-out series of color pages.

 It is a small booklet, but really amazing.

 I like to display it with the Vein Guy cover next to old spooky medical bottles and contraptions. 

 You can find it here on my website.

 Antique Taxidermy Bird Form.  This is something I have treasured.  It is very old and is what they would use as a form when doing a taxidermy bird.

 It has a really great sculptural quality to it and is quite bizarre looking.

 

 

 A great conversation starter!  You can find it here on my website.

Here's a recent find that is really hauntingly beautiful.  It is an antique French funeral urn.

 It is quite tall and looks at those roses on it!

 Perfect to use as vase with dried roses or peacock feathers.  It has an inscription in French with a date of 1914.

 A really lovely piece.  You can find it here on my website.

Well, that's it for now, but I finally have some time to add things to my website, so plan on checking back ... more great items on the way!