ZEBREGS&RÖELL
The King’s Camelopard
GUUS RÖELL & DICKIE ZEBREGS
The King’s Camelopard
Published by Zebregs&Röell Amsterdam – Maastricht 2021
To Sir David Attenborough, who has showed the world the curiosities of mother nature.
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Charles Frederick de Brocktorff (1775–1850) ‘Camelopard – a present from the Pacha of Egypt to the King – at Malta on its way to England’
Signed and dated C.F. de Brocktorff. / 1827. lower right, inscribed as titled in the painted margins lower centre. Pencil and watercolour heightened with gold paint and gum arabic on paper, 36.8 x 27.9 cm Price upon request
A gift so majestic, it made kings blush, and a gift so grand, it would startle Europe into a craze. Pasha Muhammad Ali of Egypt (1805-1848) did it in 1827: he sent to Europe three magical spotted, horned creatures, each with a neck reaching the skies and legs as long as a house is high. One giraffe to King Charles X of France, one to Francis I of Austria and the most fabled one to King George IV of England. A curious sight for Europeans, who had not seen such a beast since the Medici giraffe in 1487.
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Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) Clara the Rhinoceros, 1749 Staatliches Museum Schwerin
than these royal gifts of giraffes from the Pasha except
perhaps
Clara
the
one-month
old
rhinoceros which roamed the house of Dutch VOC Governor-General of Bengal, Jan Albert Sichterman (1692-1764), who had received her as a gift from the Nawab Shuja-ud-din-khan, governor of Bengal for the Great Mughal in Delhi. Clara was so sweet and tame that, to the great amusement of guests, she was allowed to run around the dining table. After two years she became too big and further damage to the house had to be prevented. In 1740, Sichterman gifted her to Douwe Mout van der Meer, the captain of the Dutch ship the Knappenhof who took Clara to the Netherlands. Upon arrival in 1741, she caused a great sensation across Europe and became a royal favourite, commanding audiences among rulers as well as fascinated crowds. She even inspired a rage in Paris, where the wig-style à la rhinoceros came into vogue, and many poems were written about her. Also, many drawings and engravings, even coins with her depiction have survived. Clara died in London at the age of twenty.
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C L ARA
Few animals created more of a stir in Europe
elephant, born in 1630, taken to Europe by the VOC and gifted to Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik of Orange in 1633, in response to a request for exotic animals. Many paid significant sums of money to see Hansken, and her wide array of ‘truken’ or tricks. The celebrated Rembrandt van Rijn was fascinated by Hansken and sketched the fantastic beast multiple times. The elephant changed ownership quite a few times, becoming ever more valuable. After visiting Hamburg, Copenhagen and Switzerland, she died in Florence in 1655.
Hansken (1630-1655), Showing her skills Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam (inv.no. RP-P-FM-1854)
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) Hansken, circa 1637 The British Museum (inv.no. Gg,2.259)
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HANS K E N
Another famous animal was Hansken, a female
QUE E N’S AS S
In July of 1762, a Zebra arrived in England as a gift for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz that would be known as the Queen’s Ass. The striped beast was a wedding gift from Sir Thomas Adams to Charlotte on the occasion of her marriage to George III a few months earlier. Because the zebra was unique, it was initially housed in the Tower of London. Several months later, in September, when a rare elephant arrived for the King, the two animals were housed together in the palace gardens. Although the creatures sparked great enthusiasm amongst the British, there was satire as well. The idea of an elephant and zebra being housed together seemed irresistible to some people. In fact, it resulted in a humorous penning of the following epigram:
Ye critics so learn’d, whence comes it to pass That the elephant wise should be plac’d by an ass? This matter so strange I’ll unfold in a trice, Some asses of state stand in need of advice To screen them from justice, lest in an ill hour, In the elephant’s stead they be sent to the tower.
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George Stubbs (1724-1806) The First Zebra seen in England, 1763 Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (inv.no B1981.25.617)
GIR AF F E M ANIA
But the most famous magical
pointed out that the giraffe for the
creatures to come to Europe
English King George IV did not
were the young Nubian giraffes
have as long and prosperous a life
for France and England.
as theirs and was consequently
They
were captured at the same time
described
less
by Arab hunters in Sudan near
the
to
the barren lands of Sennar. First,
caricaturists and satirists quickly
they were taken on a camel’s
associated the sickly giraffe with
back to the Blue Nile’s shores,
the ailing king.
after which a felucca sailing boat
The French Constitutionnel of
transported them over this river
July 3rd, 1872 recounts that two
to Khartoum where they boarded
of the three giraffes reached the
a
barge
Pasha simultaneously, after which
to Alexandria down the Great
he offered them to the kings
Nile. The shores were lined with
of France and England. “The
people trying to catch a glimpse
Consuls of the two nations drew
of these fantastic animals, which
lots for their choice; the French
were
cows
consul had the good fortune to
replenishing them each day with
be favoured by chance, and his
25 litres of milk.
choice was a lucky one, for the
specially
constructed
accompanied
by
years
Camelopard
frequently follow.
destined
in
Indeed,
for
the
The giraffe for the English king
King of England is since dead.”
caused a true ‘giraffemania’ at the
However, this account is wrong
time, dominating news, fashion,
for this Camelopard was shipped
the arts and most important:
to Malta where it over-wintered
satire. Often mockingly the French
and was depicted by Charles
Frederick de Brocktorff. In May it
was cut through the deck above
finally boarded the ship Penelope
the cargo hold through which the
Malta to England, and it must have
giraffe could poke its head.
been a marvellous sight, for a hole
Jacques-Laurent Agasse (1767-1849) The Nubian Giraffe Royal Collection Trust (inv.no. RCIN 404394)
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Nicolas Huet II Study of the Giraffe Given to Charles X by the Viceroy of Egypt, 1827
spectacle. From Aix-en-Provance
France
groom
to Avignon, Orange, Montelimar
named Hassan and a Sudanese
and Vienne the rage for the giraffe
boy named Atir. After a voyage of
strengthened and word spread
32 days, she arrived in Marseilles
wide. Upon arrival in Lyon on
on the 31st of October. It was
June 6th, it was greeted by a
feared that the journey around the
crowd of 30,000 cheering people,
Iberian Peninsula, up the Atlantic
all hoping to get a glimpse of the
coast of France, and up the Seine
magnificent creature.
to Paris would be too dangerous,
Finally, on the 9th July, it was
so the decision was made that she
presented to the king at the
should travel the 900 kilometres
Château de Saint-Cloud. Standing
to Paris by foot. A good choice,
nearly four metres tall, Zarafa
since this probably strengthened
as she was christened by an
the young giraffe and gave it
adoring novelist in the 1980s,
many healthy years to come.
truly caused a sensation and over
It over-wintered in Marseilles
a 100,000 people came to gawp,
where it was charmingly provided
approximately an eighth of the
with a two-part yellow coat and
population of Paris at that time. La
shoes to keep its feet warm. On
mode à la Giraffe swept the nation;
May 20th, 1827 it set out to Paris,
hair was elaborated in towering
accompanied by Hassan and Atir,
styles, and spotted fabrics became
and of course the nourishing
a craze. The famous Belle Africaine
cows. The trip to the king took
lived another 18 years in Le Jardin
41 days, with the passing-through
des Plantes in Paris, before passing
of each village turning into a
away peacefully.
with
an
Arab
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B ELL E AF R ICAINE
The French giraffe was sent to
NE W HOBBY
The English giraffe arrived in
and until she arrived there was a
London by ship on August 11th,
general belief that descriptions of
1827, and was housed in the
the giraffe were partly fabulous.
menagerie of King George IV,
George IV, often criticized by
who is credited with establishing
contemporaries for his exuberant
a private zoo at the Sandpit
lifestyle, was so enamoured with
Gate of Windsor Great Park. His
his Camelopard, that he was often
menagerie
such
satirically depicted with it. One
“wapiti,
caricature showed the king seated
sambur, zebus, gnus, quaggas,
astride a high-stepping giraffe
Corine antelopes, llamas, wild
accompanied
swine, emus, ostriches, parrots,
Lady
and waterfowl. There was also
straw hat with a wide curving
an
brim and the lady a large bonnet,
exotic
consisted
creatures
‘enormous
showpiece
of
of
as
tortoise’.” his
The
collection,
with
by
Conyngham,
two
his
mistress
wearing
Nubians
a
bowing.
however, was the female Nubian
This satire alludes to the king’s
giraffe, also called ‘Camelopard’
ignorance of the problems of
young
the country and the Camelopard
with
being the talk of the town, as Lord
several care-keepers and cows
Marlborough wrote to the Times
that provided her with milk as
after its arrival: “Everybody was
this one too was young, only 18
so much engrossed by talking
months old, and ten and a half
of the Camelopard who has just
feet in height.” She was the first
arrived, that nothing else seemed
Giraffe ever seen in England,
to be thought of.”
by
the
specimen
English. arrived
“The along
William Heath (1794-1840), The Camelopard, or a new hobby, 1827 The British Museum (inv.no. 1868,0808.8815)
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William Heath (1794-1840) State of the Giraffe, circa 1829 Victoria&Albert Museum (inv.no. E.98-1923)
giraffes are accustomed to Africa’s
the talk of the town because from
warm and open savannah, not the
the beginning there was trouble.
cold and wet confines of a British
An artist commissioned to paint
zoo. Hence, two years after its
the English giraffe’s portrait now
arrival in England, the giraffe died,
noticed
having grown only 45 centimetres
that
its
lower
limbs
seemed deformed by injuries.
in
Investigation revealed that on the
obsessed with his giraffe, was
stage of its journey from Sennar to
terribly distraught over its death
Cairo on the back of a camel, the
and commissioned the taxidermist
wounds had been caused because
John Gould to stuff his recently
its legs were lashed together under
deceased pet. “The stuffer to the
the camel’s body. After two years,
Zoological Society, Mr Gould, has
it became very debilitated from
had the performing of his duty…
those early wounds and exercise
Soon after the Giraffe expired, De
became painful and problematic.
Ville, the modelist, was ordered
Someone came up with a plan
down to Windsor, by His Majesty,
to keep the animal moving, and
and took a cast of the animal.
a gigantic triangle on wheels
From this cast a wooden form was
was constructed in which “the
manufactured, on which the skin
creature was somehow secured
of the animal is now placed, and
each day and trundled round
which preserves its beauty to an
her paddock, the hooves just
extraordinary degree.” (The Times,
touching the ground.”
April 15, 1830)
Despite
this
kind
captivity.
treatment,
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King
George
IV,
STATE OF THE GIR AF F E
The state of the giraffe was indeed
John Doyle (1797-1868) Le Mort, 1829 Royal Collection Trust (inv.no. RCIN 751281)
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Images of these royal giraffes are rare and sought after because they give a glimpse of a long-lost world of wonder and discovery. Nowadays a giraffe, or any other creature on the planet for that matter, is a mouse-click away. But images like the one presented might
also
make
one
pause
for a second and realize how magnificent really is.
the
natural
world
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