The Urban Hunt

I once stayed at a friend’s log cabin in Middle-of-Nowhere, New Hampshire. Her grandfather spent six years of his youth building the cabin with his bare hands, and has been filling the place with his hunting prizes since 1967. If you can imagine what 40 years of hunting looks like, you are imagining any and every room in the cabin. My trip was a four-day, Amazon-grade rainstorm during which every mosquito in the Northeast took refuge in my bedroom. I spent a lot of time in admiration but at the same time repulsed by that much taxidermy.  It could have been cabin fever, but I felt strangely connected to nature through the dead wildlife. A little dark and disturbing I admit.

Recently a much lighter trend has emerged  in the use of animal heads that is fun and a lot more palatable to most of us.  The following designers challenge even the most tame city-dweller to refuse the urge to hunt one of these pieces down.

Well-known handstitch artist Tamar Mogendorff comes from Israel, and makes the above fabric sculptures. She uses old linen, vintage embroidery, tweed and old newspaper. The stitching is rough and imperfect, making each piece one-of-a-kind and particularly stunning.

Designer Merikay MacKenna’s motto is “How to get a Head without Hunting.” She was the subject of the critically acclaimed “San Fransisco Safari” show in 2005, and she makes these artificial animal head sculptures using man-made furs.

Last and least (just kidding), is James de Givenchy’s deer brooch. Designed for Taffin, this sucker is rhodium-plated and made of 18-karat gold, diamond, spinel and meerschaum. I don’t know what spinel or meerschaum is, but I don’t care. This deer is hotter than Bambi’s mom.

Stay naked and start hunting.

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