Daguerreotype with "Genushe" etched on back of copper plate (ca.1845-46). From the collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City).
Addendum: I can't resist pairing that tender sweet photo with this one -
Identified as "Roast rack of squirrel, fondant jersey royal potatoes, carrot and wild garlic served at Paul Wedgwood’s restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photograph: Wedgwood."
“My original starting point with grey squirrel was taste. But it’s also great for the environment,” says Paul Wedgwood, one of Scotland’s leading chefs, whose restaurant on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile has had grey squirrel on the menu since 2008. Wedgwood has even made haggis from the North American rodent that has driven the local extinction of the native red across much of England and Wales.“It’s mellow, nutty and a bit gamey. It’s just a really nice flavour, and it’s easy to match. Anyone who’s doing rabbit could just easily swap in squirrel,” he says.
Somebody cared for that squirrel.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed when I meet people who have no love, or even like, of animals.
Their lack of care for another beating heart and thinking brain warns me of their inhumanity - for want of a more applicable word - and I remove myself from their company.
I have many pet graves in my garden, cats, rabbits, chickens, hedgehogs.
I met a woman once who, when told of the graves, said 'what a waste, you could have eaten them'.
The pictured dead squirrel had more compassion that that woman.
I never would have guessed that Mr. Rocket is a vegetarian, or perhaps a vegan. Surprised your humanity does not include insects.
DeleteRegarding the woman mentioned above, perhaps she once (or still) experienced hunger and did not view the consumption of meat (i.e. rabbits and chickens and squirrels) as inhumane. The inhumane treatment of some animals prior to them becoming food is a different discussion.
The photo is part of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art collection. Not much appears to be known about it, other than it being from ca. 1845-46 and having "Genushe" inscribed on the back. (Credits to this older reddit post for the info).
ReplyDeleteCredits and links added to the post. Thank you, Drabkikker.
Delete"I can't resist pairing that tender sweet photo with this one"
ReplyDeleteYou should have tried harder.
Doesn't matter to either Squirrel, plus we don't know how each met their demise.
DeleteThe Squirrel in the funeral photo might have been murdered to create an art project.
The Squirrel on the plate might have met an accidental death and is being returned to nature by a different route.
Humans are in the habit of filling in the blanks to suit their personal comfort level.
It's just a literal interpretation of the Dutch saying: De één zijn dood is de ander zijn brood "Someone's death is someone else's bread" ;)
DeleteHear what you're saying, but... an "art project," the kind of which you suggest, was not quite in vogue at the earliest onset of photography as the date(s) would suggest, and I doubt that restaurant has built its reputation by relying on roadkill.
DeleteStan B, you're filling in blanks. We don't know why or when that Squirrel was was dressed up, only when it was Daguerreotyped.
ReplyDeleteWho said roadkill? 14 years on the menu needs a better supply but that one still may of died accidently.
My point was and is, we don't know.
At that particular time in the history of photography, photography itself was both fairly difficult (Daguerreotypes were an involved process) and expensive (cameras, materials, chemicals, etc). Memento mori was a major motif which served a distinct societal niche since photography's inception;
ReplyDeletemost likely, that was the pet of a child whose parents were considerably well off. No, I can't state that with certainty, but it is what history implies. "Art projects" of cute little animals did not become popular until the process became considerably cheaper and more available to the public at large (first with tintypes, and then en masse with the advent of celluloid). Although documentation of family pets most certainly exist, an art project from that era (the kind of which you suggest) would be widely known and lauded, at least among photography enthusiasts. And if it does, I would sincerely appreciate if you would point it my way.
As for the roadkill remark, I was merely accentuating the fact that the chances a restaurant with such a long history of serving such fare presenting accidentally killed animals for consumption are extremely small (not to mention potentially unhealthy unless witnessed), at best.
Your reasoning is impeccable and based on extensive historic knowledge. I believe you are correct in your assumptions, and thank you for the insight.
ReplyDeleteBut you're filling in blanks which was my original point, we just don't know.