I’m hoping that y’all can help with my ignorance regarding taxidermy in general, a wall pedestal in particular. I’ve only done euro mounts in the past.
Long story short, I saw a sable 2 years ago that made me promise myself that if I ever decided to take a sable, it would be like the one I saw and it would be the only non-euro mount I’d ever do.
Well, the last trip I took to RSA provided me with he opportunity to take that very sable, and even though it blew the budget, I could not pass it up.
The taxidermist is Karoo Taxidermy in Graaff-Reinet. I’m going for a specific look to the mount and I have no idea if I am using the right terminology or if I’m even close to what’s possible or that it would do the sable justice.
The room’s rough layout is below, with the red arc being about where the mount will be on the wall (I ruled out floor pedestal due to space constraints). Ceiling height is 8’-10’. I would like a dramatic impression on those entering the room.
My initial thought:
- Right shoulder against the wall
- Extended/asymmetrical wall pedestal form, with as much neck and shoulder as practical, clean against the wall (no backside showing)
- No pronounced half-moon/crescent cutout in the shoulder
- Head turned strongly back over the animal’s left shoulder, looking at you when you walk in the room
- From a viewer standing perpendicular to the wall, I want to see a strong side profile of the head and horns
- In that profile, I’d like the head pitched so the horn bases and horn tips are as close to the same horizontal plane as practical, giving the horns a clean arch rather than a nose-high or pronounced nose-down presentation
So, something like this oryx, but perhaps an even slightly more obtuse angle from the body line?
With the head pitch (no roll/cant) so that the horns make a nice arch on the horizontal plane:
Most wall pedestals I see have a curved, half-moon backside, at least part of which is openly exposed when hanging on the wall. I’m looking for the mount to rest cleanly against the wall with no exposed backside, such as in this photo of a kudu mount:
I also prefer omitting the leg drop for a cleaner look, such as in this picture (but with less real estate take up on the wall):
The taxidermist’s literature is a tad confusing as to what I’m looking for - they describe “1/2 turn to the left” as “looking behind itself” but I think, in their terminology, it’s closer to “3/4 turn” that I’m looking for, and they don’t seem to offer it.
Elsewhere I read about an “offset shoulder mount” but I haven’t seen any examples on antelope, so I have no idea if that may be a better option.
That’s a lot of information, and I hope that I am making sense.
I’m just curious what y’all think of the design idea and what language / angle measurements / terminology to use when communicating the idea to the taxidermist via email.
Thoughts and insights welcome!
