The Lion of Gripsholm Castle

In 1731, a lion was given as a gift to King Frederick I of Sweden. When it died it was sent to a taxidermist for preservation. Unfortunately, the taxidermist wasn't sure what a lion was supposed to look like, and this was the result:

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 24, 2023
Category: Taxidermy | Eighteenth Century

Comments

Seeing the bronze and stone lions of the time, it's not surprising. Most of them look like bulldogs anyway.

Posted by Yudith on 07/25/23 at 08:05 PM

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we got the Finnish coat of arms.

Posted by Richard Bos on 07/29/23 at 05:39 AM

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