Some of the world’s most exquisite early models of the natural world have been made available to the public for the first time.
The University of Aberdeen's Zoology Museum includes in its collections everything from century-old models of marine life and flowers to modern day casts of the skulls of extinct sabrecats.
Now Dr Martyn Gorman, Honorary Curator of the Zoology museum has created three on-line virtual exhibitions to make the University treasures fully accessible to the public.
They can be seen at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/zoologymuseum/exhibitions/model.php
Dr Gorman explained: "Today, biology teachers have ready access to high quality photographs and videos of living organisms that they can use to inform and enthuse their students.
"However, in earlier times such media were not available and instead models of plants and animals were used in biological and medical education. Some of these models were exquisite works of art in their own right. The Zoology Museum is extremely fortunate to have early models made by some of the greatest exponents of the art."
Included in the collection are models made by Louis Auzoux (1797-1880), a French medical school graduate and the pre-eminent maker of plaster and papier mâché models during the 19th century.
His work includes a full size human being and a model of a horse hoof featuring several parts which can be removed to show anatomical details of bones, ligaments, muscles, nerves and blood vessels.
Also included is the work of Leopold (1822-1895) and Rudolf Blaschka (1857-1939). The father and son team ran a small glass making workshop in Dresden, Germany.
"At their height they had salesmen working across Europe and North America and as far a field as Japan and India," explained Dr Gorman. "Initially, they made costume jewellery and glass eyes for the blind and for taxidermists who were enjoying a period of great demand and prosperity in the late 1800s.
"However, during 1863 they started to make exquisite glass models of marine invertebrates and flowers and these soon became their main business. The glass models of animals and plants produced by the Blaschkas are truly works of art and must surely rank as some of the very best ever produced. Our museum has in its collections over 40 of these glass marvels."
The French naturalist Emile Deyrolle is another whose work now features in the Museum's collections. He founded his shop in 1831 and moved to its current location on the Rue du Bac in Paris, the former home of Louis XIV's banker, in 1881.
"The shop is now owned by Le Prince Jardinier, and does a brisk trade in mounted butterflies, beetles, and other insects," said Dr Gorman. "It also offers taxidermy services, and for a few hundred euros you can have your dead dog or cat stuffed. The Museum has some excellent wax models of insects and other invertebrates."
And he added: "The tradition of model making still flourishes today using modern synthetic materials. The Zoology Museum has examples of some of the very best of these contemporary models including resin casts of the skulls of extinct sabrecats and other vertebrates by Bone Clones® of California."
The Zoology Museum, where some of the models are on display, is housed in the Zoology Building on Tillydrone Avenue. The Museum is open to the public, free of charge, Monday to Friday. Closed on public holidays.