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see also:
- Out of Africa there is always something
new by J.A. van den Heever
-
Growth of a Collection (Ethnology Collection)
by E. M.Shaw
James Drury
James Drury, a Scotsman, served as a soldier in the Anglo-Boer War and joined
the Museum on his discharge in July 1902 as a taxidermist and modeller. Drury
mounted fish and birds for Sclater but his most spectacular work was done
later under Peringuey and
Leonard Gill. It was not until Drury joined the
staff that any great effort had been made to mount fish. The Marine Gallery
began to reflect far more accurately the life in Cape waters and less
predominantly a taxonomic display of mollusca and marine arthropods.
From 1906 until 1924 Drury was engaged in making plaster of Paris casts of
Bushmen. Although the casts have long formed a unique display in the Museum as a
diorama, they were not originally intended as such, but more as archives
recording the physical appearance of the Bush people. In 1907, Drury produced
his first cast from a living subject, a seated boy playing a musical instrument.
From 1918 - 1921 he travelled southern Africa and to Namibia to cast Bushmen and
Hottentots and to write a report on their way of life. His anthropological work
among Bushmen was outstanding.
Under Gill's Directorship, Drury's talents were used in other ways and he
commenced a programme of modelling the bones of Karoo reptiles, restoring
missing pieces.
In 1939 - 40, Drury was responsible for the proper preservation and
remounting of the first coelacanth to be caught. Even
though the fish belonged to the East London Museum, and had been mounted by a
local taxidermist, hot weather conditions caused the specimen to deteriorate and
urgent measures were necessary to preserve the unique specimen for posterity.
The fish was transported to Cape Town and Drury used incredible skill to solve
the technical problems involved with restoring the coelacanth.
He retired in 1942, an unusually gifted craftsman, and always used his
talents for the Museum which he served whole-heartedly. Even after his
retirement he showed continued interest in the Museum and then he moved to
Melkbosstrand where he set up a small museum and mounted birds and made casts.
He died on 1 August 1962, aged eighty-three.
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