Taxidermy: A Cased Common Chub (Squalius cephalus), dated 21st October 1905, by A.W. Gamage Ltd, Holburn, London, for W.F. Homer, 105 Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate, London, E7, preserved and mounted in a naturalistic setting amidst reeds and grasses, set above a pebbled river bed, mounted against a pale blue/green painted back drop, enclosed within a typical ebonised bow-fronted three-glass display case with verre eglomise border, 66cm by 15.5cm by 34.5cm, bearing gilt legend to front glass " Caught by F.A. Mitchell. Hedges. at Marlow. 21st Oct.1905. Wgt 4lbs 8ozs'', taxidermist's trade label to interior upper right, various photo copies of book entries to verso of case,The angler of this prize catch was the Adventurer and author Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges, father to adopted daughter Anna Mitchell-Hedges who famously discovered the Crystal Skull found at Lubaantun, in British Honduras, now Belize.Mitchell-Hedges claimed that she found the skull buried under a collapsed altar inside a temple in Lubaantun, in British Honduras, now Belize. As far as can be ascertained, F.A. Mitchell-Hedges himself made no mention of the alleged discovery in any of his writings on Lubaantun. Others present at the time of the excavation recorded neither the skull's discovery nor Anna's presence at the dig. Recent evidence has come to light showing that F.A. Mitchell-Hedges purchased the skull at a Sotheby's auction in London on October 15, 1943, from London art dealer Sydney Burney. In December 1943, F.A. Michell-Hedges disclosed his purchase of the skull in a letter to his brother, stating plainly that he acquired it from Burney.The skull is made from a block of clear quartz about the size of a small human cranium, measuring some 5 inches (13 cm) high, 7 inches (18 cm) long and 5 inches (13 cm) wide. The lower jaw is detached. In the early 1970s it came under the temporary care of freelance art restorer Frank Dorland, who claimed upon inspecting it that it had been "carved" with total disregard to the natural crystal axis, and without the use of metal tools. Dorland reported being unable to find any tell-tale scratch marks, except for traces of mechanical grinding on the teeth, and he speculated that it was first chiseled into rough form, probably using diamonds, and the finer shaping, grinding and polishing was achieved through the use of sand over a period of 150 to 300 years. He said it could be up to 12,000 years old. Although various claims have been made over the years regarding the skull's physical properties, such as an allegedly constant temperature of 70 °F (21 °C), Dorland reported that there was no difference in properties between it and other natural quartz crystals.While in Dorland's care the skull came to the attention of writer Richard Garvin, at the time working at an advertising agency where he supervised Hewlett-Packard's advertising account. Garvin made arrangements for the skull to be examined at Hewlett-Packard's crystal laboratories in Santa Clara, California, where it was subjected to several tests. The labs determined only that it was not a composite as Dorland had supposed, but that it was fashioned from a single crystal of quartz. The laboratory test also established that the lower jaw had been fashioned from the same left-handed growing crystal as the rest of the skull. No investigation was made by Hewlett-Packard as to its method of manufacture or dating.As well as the traces of mechanical grinding on the teeth noted by Dorland, Mayanist archaeologist Norman Hammond reported that the holes (presumed to be intended for support pegs) showed signs of being made by drilling with metal. Anna Mitchell-Hedges refused subsequent requests to submit the skull for further scientific testing.
