Par Philip Salvador
Published on
updated on 19 Mar 22 at 14:49
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The Pinder circus elephant is the major attraction of the Victor Brun Natural History Museum from Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne). It sits there at the entrance, from the top of its two meters, for more than 125 years. “When the animal died in February 1894, William Pinder donated it to the city. His company had set up its winter quarters at La Ville-Dieu-du-Temple, near Montauban,” says Aude Medinathe director of the museum.
A very knowledgeable elephant
The specimen is an elegant Asian elephantborn in Siam [Thaïlande] and between 25 and 30 years old. She and another female were bought in 1892 by the circus, to impress the spectators. In a special edition of Cirque dans l’univers, in October 2017, François Rozès writes:
“Trained by Albert Pinder, they rode a velocipede, played the barrel organ and the bass drum, balanced on wooden bottles…”
A poisoned gift
Naturalization, which lasts more than a year, is not a pair of sleeves. “We have letters between the mayor and the taxidermist, who demanded to be paid. The operation had cost 2,000 francs, to which must be added the cost of transporting the mastodon by train and the work to accommodate it,” says Aude Medina. It is a small fortune for the time. And we find this wrathful reflection, on the sidelines of a letter from an official of the Museum:
“This is a terrible deal for the city. We should never have accepted this donation.”
What good could that be?
Journalists also take a dim view of the arrival of the pachyderm in the museum. “They did not understand what it could be used for, since there had already been a stuffed elephant here since 1884. They said all you had to do was give it to the Museum of Toulouse! » reports the director. At the end of the 19the century, there was apparently nothing surprising in come across an elephant in the city… “There were many circuses in the area and the people of Montalban used to see their animals parade. »
A mysterious facility…
It’s unclear how the stuffed animal was later ridden up.on the second floor of the Bourse, where the Museum Victor Brun is located, then installed in the entrance hall. At first glance, this is impossible. There is, however, a letter dated February 24, 1895 from the Mayor of Montauban, indicating to the curator that all he had to do was “to throw a roof over the two existing walls of the Stock Exchange and the Caisse d’Épargne, and to fix at the same points of support a floor and a ceiling”. Child’s play.
Amazing anonymity
If we call the animal “the Pinder circus elephant”, it is because we strangely do not know not his name. Aude Medina continues to lead the investigation. Three years ago, she met a descendant of William Pinder, a century-old lady, who told her: “I believe that the elephant was called Bella, but I have to look in my archives…”. Case to follow. In the meantime, the anonymous proboscidean will continue to arouse the admiration of young and old alike.
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