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Indian Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen (1900 - 1998)
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Rug
Van Ingen & Van Ingen (1900–1998) were Indian taxidermists located in Mysore, South India, best known for their vast numbers of tiger and leopard taxidermy mounts now scattered throughout the world in the form of head mounts, full mounts, flat animal rugs, and rug mounts with heads attached.
The Van Ingens served the highest of international nobility as well as the maharajas of India, preserving their "shikar" hunting trophies in the most lifelike poses and in the utmost beauty, uncomparable to any other taxidermists in the world.
Hunting Tigers in India
Work
The sole purpose company was renowned for their work on big game trophies, covering mainly tigers, leopards and bears. Van Ingen & Van Ingen firm 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. They employed almost 100 employees in the time of great demand between 1900 to 1960.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Leopard Rug
Joubert is the only brother still alive. In the book Van Ingen & Van Ingen - Artists in Taxidermy author Pat Morris meets Joubert in Mysore at age 92.
Van Ingen & Van Ingen published various books on taxidermy, the most notable entitled, The Preservation of Shikar Trophies, Artists in Taxidermy, Mysore. Van Ingen & Van Ingen did commissioned work for the highest nobility, including British and Indian royalty.
Legacy
Their book, The Preservation of Shikar Trophies, Artists in Taxidermy, Mysore is considered the main source for information on the abundance of wild leopards and tigers once found in the wild.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Head 1934
In 2004 the UK's Dr. Pat Morris travelled to Mysore, met Joubert then returned to author and publish the book Van Ingen & Van Ingen - Artists in Taxidermyin 2006 , which shows the history, quality and depth of what was once the world's largest taxidermy company. The book also contains actual photocopies of the factory workbook records of the Van Ingen factory.
One of the three brothers De Wet Van Ingen (now deceased), still holds the record for the largest Mahseer ever caught on a rod.
Business Days
In their heyday, factory records show that Van Ingen processed over 400 Tigers per year from the 1930s till the 1960s. 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 decline where regulations and laws introduced saw the rapid decline in the hunting of tigers.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Head
The firm remained active right up until 1998 with very few workers, although a world now changed and with the endangered species of tiger no longer being a hunting target, the firm had no choice but to close its doors.
(Original Factory Records of vast numbers of animals processed in the factory (not only tigers) but also leopards, bears, lions, other cats and various other ungulates are reproduced in Pat Morris' book Van Ingen & Van Ingen - Artists in Taxidermy)
Van Ingen & Van Ingen Today
Today, Van Ingen Taxidermy pieces are found in various countries, rarities due to wear of old age or kept away in private collections. Some are found in auction houses throughout Britain sometimes finding themselves a high price due to their preserved quality.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Head
Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger "rugs with headmount" as well as heads on shields are usually inherited from family members through the ages and sometimes sold due to little or no interest.
Sadly, today there is little to no information regarding these great taxidermists, apart from P.A. Morris' extroadinary book, the Van Ingen factory in Mysore, India lies derelict overgrown by the local jungle and the only living survivor of the Van Ingen legacy, Joubert Van Ingen is almost 97 years of age.
In 2010 a bid to immortalise the Van Ingen legacy, a series of videos and interviews at the factory is planned by individual fans who wish to keep the Van Ingen history alive forever, although more information will be released in time to come.
The finest Taxidermist company from India who have cured & preserved the most tigers in the world & lots of animal skins.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Rug
Van Ingen & Van Ingen (1900–1998) were Indian taxidermists located in Mysore, South India, best known for their vast numbers of tiger and leopard taxidermy mounts now scattered throughout the world in the form of head mounts, full mounts, flat animal rugs, and rug mounts with heads attached.
The Van Ingens served the highest of international nobility as well as the maharajas of India, preserving their "shikar" hunting trophies in the most lifelike poses and in the utmost beauty, uncomparable to any other taxidermists in the world.
Hunting Tigers in India
Work
The sole purpose company was renowned for their work on big game trophies, covering mainly tigers, leopards and bears. Van Ingen & Van Ingen firm 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. They employed almost 100 employees in the time of great demand between 1900 to 1960.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Leopard Rug
Joubert is the only brother still alive. In the book Van Ingen & Van Ingen - Artists in Taxidermy author Pat Morris meets Joubert in Mysore at age 92.
Van Ingen & Van Ingen published various books on taxidermy, the most notable entitled, The Preservation of Shikar Trophies, Artists in Taxidermy, Mysore. Van Ingen & Van Ingen did commissioned work for the highest nobility, including British and Indian royalty.
Legacy
Their book, The Preservation of Shikar Trophies, Artists in Taxidermy, Mysore is considered the main source for information on the abundance of wild leopards and tigers once found in the wild.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Head 1934
In 2004 the UK's Dr. Pat Morris travelled to Mysore, met Joubert then returned to author and publish the book Van Ingen & Van Ingen - Artists in Taxidermyin 2006 , which shows the history, quality and depth of what was once the world's largest taxidermy company. The book also contains actual photocopies of the factory workbook records of the Van Ingen factory.
One of the three brothers De Wet Van Ingen (now deceased), still holds the record for the largest Mahseer ever caught on a rod.
Business Days
In their heyday, factory records show that Van Ingen processed over 400 Tigers per year from the 1930s till the 1960s. 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 decline where regulations and laws introduced saw the rapid decline in the hunting of tigers.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Head
The firm remained active right up until 1998 with very few workers, although a world now changed and with the endangered species of tiger no longer being a hunting target, the firm had no choice but to close its doors.
(Original Factory Records of vast numbers of animals processed in the factory (not only tigers) but also leopards, bears, lions, other cats and various other ungulates are reproduced in Pat Morris' book Van Ingen & Van Ingen - Artists in Taxidermy)
Van Ingen & Van Ingen Today
Today, Van Ingen Taxidermy pieces are found in various countries, rarities due to wear of old age or kept away in private collections. Some are found in auction houses throughout Britain sometimes finding themselves a high price due to their preserved quality.
Taxidermist Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger Head
Van Ingen & Van Ingen Tiger "rugs with headmount" as well as heads on shields are usually inherited from family members through the ages and sometimes sold due to little or no interest.
Sadly, today there is little to no information regarding these great taxidermists, apart from P.A. Morris' extroadinary book, the Van Ingen factory in Mysore, India lies derelict overgrown by the local jungle and the only living survivor of the Van Ingen legacy, Joubert Van Ingen is almost 97 years of age.
In 2010 a bid to immortalise the Van Ingen legacy, a series of videos and interviews at the factory is planned by individual fans who wish to keep the Van Ingen history alive forever, although more information will be released in time to come.
The finest Taxidermist company from India who have cured & preserved the most tigers in the world & lots of animal skins.
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