Provenance: > Private collection, Paris, was intended for fairs and is supposed to represent the mummified body of a mermaid, the first specimen of a Mermaid of the Fijdi Islands which came from the imagination of the American showman Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891). His invention was first spoken about in the New York Sunday Herald on July 17, 1842, before being exhibited at the Concert Hall on Broadway and then at the American Museum in New York for several weeks. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the Sirens of the Fijdi Islands were the talk of the town and inspired future science fiction writers. (Source: Peter Dance, Faux animaux, escroqueries et mystifications, Pierre Horay, Paris, 1978) - Weight: 10.00 kg - Shipping unavailable - Region: Oceanie - Sizes: H 450 mm x L 1500 mm - At first glance: normal wear / patina of use