Chapter 12 



New Wings 

 and a New Elephant 



THE RO l UNDA IS A GRAND architectural f eature. 

 However, no one seems to have known what to 

 do with it. At first the architects had a skylight above 

 the rotunda, but this gave a bizarre roofline to the 

 building. Their next conception was a large dome with 

 enormous bull's-eye windows, followed by the winged- 

 statue-topped model. Even though Hornblower and 

 Marshall were overruled on the ornate French Second 

 Empire-style dome, they persisted, and in 1909 rec- 

 ommended St. Gaudens's Victoij as the statue for the 

 center of the rotunda. Mercifully, this idea was rejected. 



When the iron grilles were installed on the doors in 

 June 1911, and the public finally could use the main 

 entrance to the building, cases of large mammals were 

 in the rotunda. For a time a giraffe was centered below 

 the dome. Later, various statues flanked the ambula- 

 tory. For a brief time in the 1940s a giant blue vase 

 stood in the center. During much of the 1950s the 

 rotunda was empty, save for the guards' desk and the 

 benches under the ambulatory. It was not until 1959 

 that a proper rotunda-sized exhibit was installed: the 

 largest mounted elephant in the world. 



An Awe-inspiring Sight 



While some staff members regard the elephant as just 

 another animal on display, it is an awe-inspiring sight. 

 Shot November 13, 1955, by J.J. Fenykovi near the 

 Cuito River in Angola, the elephant was skinned in a 

 single piece weighing over two tons. The 1,800 pound 

 skull also was collected, along with the leg bones and 

 the two tusks, each of ninety-six pounds' weight. Fenykovi 

 wrote in 1956, "1 have decided to let a big museum 

 have him. There, reconstructed by their experts, he can 

 stand in all the size and majesty he enjoyed in life — the 

 biggest elephant ever shot by man." ' (A larger specimen 

 has since been reported.) 



According to one story, Fenykovi first approached 

 the British Museum (Natural History), but they de- 



Huilding the manikin for the Fenykovi elephant in Hall 16, 

 before the eluy fell off, 1958. The entrance to the rotunda 

 is behind the elephant. 



clined the specimen because they already had a group 

 of elephants in the center hall. According to another 

 story, a member of the American consular staff in An- 

 gola read about the animal's being killed and cabled 

 the State Department, which informed the Smithson- 

 ian. Whatever the true story, the elephant arrived from 

 the field. Although a truckload of salt had been dumped 

 on the skin in the field to preserve it, the untanned 

 hide reeked, and those who worked at the west loading 

 dock, where it was stored for months, still remember 

 it. 



William L. Brown, the chief taxidermist, prepared 

 an account of what was involved in mounting this el- 

 ephant. It is worth quoting in full, for a similar pro- 

 cedure, although on a smaller scale, has been used for 

 some of the mammal groups on display. 



When the hide arrived at the Museum it was in 

 one piece so it had to be cut into three parts for 

 tanning. Then a wooden armature, two or three 

 inches under life-size was so constructed as to be 

 disassembled into three sections, head and neck, 

 and two body halves. This supported the water 

 clay used to make the life-size model. To support 

 the armature four giant A-shaped trusses were 

 made in order to take care of the heavy weight 

 during construction. Because of the lack of 

 humidity in the hall where the work was being 

 done, a large plastic housing was built around the 

 frame. Into this a steam line was inserted in order 

 to maintain a high humidity, thus preventing any 

 drying of the clay while modeling. 



When the model was completed the hide was 

 placed over it, adjusted, and worked on until every 

 wrinkle was restored and a life-like appearance 

 produced. After this, a plaster of paris mold, 

 reinforced with sisal fiber, was made over each of 

 the sections to hold the skin in exact position while 

 the work proceeded, l o strengthen each heavy 

 plaster of paris mold, wooden beams were 

 attached, to which hoists would be fastened later. 

 At this stage the plastic housing was removed. 



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