Sir, – I noticed that a baboon, an antelope and a tiger's head were among the items collected by Tony O'Reilly ("Tiger's head among Sir Anthony O'Reilly belongings sold off", October 5th). Hardly surprising. Sure wasn't he a Lion himself! – Yours, etc,
MARTIN CAHILL,
Castleknock, Dublin 15.
Sir, – “Taxidermy, long considered a dying art, has become fashionable again and bidders snapped up some startling examples, including a baboon” which was “standing on all fours”. The price? €1,200. Wow!
And the pièce de résistance, an Indian tiger's head, "with glass eyes, above a snarling mouth", sold for €1,000, double its asking price!
May I dare to suggest that stuffing animals is indeed a dead art? In fact, it is weird. To buy a sawdust-filled carcass of an animal to be “enjoyed” by all who behold it is, to paraphrase Lewis Carroll, “weirder and weirder”, in my opinion. – Yours, etc,
BRENDA MORGAN,
Howth,
Co Dublin.