Huid en een opgezette kop van een beer before 1880

Curator: I'd like to introduce a curious object from the Rijksmuseum's collection: a photograph, titled "Huid en een opgezette kop van een beer," or "Skin and a stuffed head of a bear," attributed to Nicholas & Co. and dating from before 1880. Editor: My goodness, it's startling! Stark. Like a hunting trophy memorialized in sepia tones. It feels like a stage prop, oddly regal but also a bit gruesome. The bear's head almost seems to be looking back at us with surprise. Curator: The realism here is interesting, particularly in a photograph of this era. Notice the way the light captures the texture of the fur. It's a print, part of a larger published work—the very page is presented alongside the photograph. What strikes me is the implicit relationship between consumption and display inherent in this artistic presentation. Editor: It certainly highlights our complex relationship with the natural world. It feels like it's questioning whether this act is one of triumph or one of lament. And look at how it is composed! The stuffed bear is positioned right beside this ornate column—almost like royalty. It reminds me of Victorian death photography, of making memories and the ways that class and status plays into what gets remembered. Curator: Absolutely. There’s also something to be said about photography itself becoming a means of preservation. This photograph isn't just a record of a bear head; it's about documenting a certain type of social practice, a display of power and privilege through hunting. It captures not just the animal but the context of its exploitation. Editor: Thinking about it, there’s an inherent sadness in the display. Like the column beside it wants to grant honor, but this memory now just feels hollow. Maybe this artist sought to confront their social world by framing taxidermy, using this new tool called photography, as not just history-making, but fraught and contradictory. Curator: A valuable reminder of how even seemingly straightforward images can reveal so much about our relationship to objects and their place in the broader economic and social spheres that frame their meaning. Editor: Precisely! Makes you ponder the layers beneath the surface—the hunt, the pose, the frame, and our present gaze. There’s a strange, disquieting beauty in it.