Pick of the Collections 13/06/2020
George Fussey, Curator of the Eton College Natural History Museum, discusses global pandemics, biodiversity and the ‘Farmers of the Forest’ in this ‘podcasque’, the latest in our series of conversations about the collections.
Earring, intricately carved from a bird casque [NHM-HT.145-2014] 
The helmeted hornbill
credit iStock-1065326080
Made in Sarawak by a member of the Kenyah tribe, probably living in one of the longhouses on the Tinjar River, and given to the Bishop of Miri (Anthony Galvin). Presented to Robin Hanbury-Tenison in 1976. Donated to The Natural History Museum, Eton College in 2012 as part of the Robin Hanbury-Tenison collection.
http://collections.etoncollege.com/object-nhm-ht-145-2014
The helmeted hornbill is a very large bird in the hornbill family. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The casque accounts for some 11% of its 3 kg weight.
Download the audio transcript here:
Loving this! It’s like you’re in the museum with the curator. It would be great if it were possible to have some audio controls as there was a part I wanted to skip back to and hear again. Anyway, amazing work on an amazing work!
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