Van Ingen & Van Ingen Of Mysore
Artists in taxidermy
THEIR STORY
THE GREATEST EVER
Van Ingen & Van Ingen were Indian taxidermists operating from 1900-1998 in Mysore, South India. The firm was regarded as the best in the world completing taxidermy works for nobility as high as the Maharajahs of India to the Kings and Queens of foreign lands. Van Ingen were renowned for processing the highest volume of tigers and leopards as well as producing mounts in the most lifelike poses and utmost beauty, incomparable to any other taxidermists in the world. They produced taxidermy in the form of full mounts, heads on shields, flat rugs, and rug mounts with heads attached.
A Family Affair
Van Ingen & Van Ingen was run by three brothers Botha, De Wet and Joubert Van Ingen who were trained by their father and founder of the taxidermy firm, Eugene Van Ingen. At the peak of business between the 1930's and 1960's, factory records show that Van Ingen processed over 400 tigers per year. The firm also employed over 100 workers in this time to support the high workload, with jobs from cleaning, skinning, salting, pickling, mounting, carpentry, finishing, decorating and offloading. It was only until the late 60's that work began to see a dramatic decline with the introduction of regulations and laws for hunters hunting big game. Van Ingen & Van Ingen also published various books on taxidermy, the most notable entitled The Preservation of Shikar Trophies, Artists in Taxidermy, Mysore demonstrating the recommended techniques for skinning and preserving game in the field.
Like no other
Van Ingen & Van Ingen's work was so highly regarded due to their attention to detail, using quality hand-painted glass eyes and reproducing accurate forms from paper maché, using ceramic moulds to maintain constant output quality. As well as being one of the best in detail, Van Ingen & Van Ingen play a critical role in history, meticulously keeping ledgers of every single order that was assigned an individual serial number, with a corresponding date, name of the order maker and any other details to be included right down to the expression and position of a mount. These ledgers are maintained and proof of abundance of wild tiger and panther throughout the years. We can provide provenance checks for your prized Van Ingen & Van Ingen mounts, to find out the history behind your item please click here
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We should admire the quality and durability of their work, which surpassed that of contemporary taxidermists and includes some of the best taxidermy of the 20th century.
Patrick Morris
