At the start of the 20th century a new method of taxidermy was developed that has remained similar until today. A clay body was modelled around an armature, allowing for accurate proportions and the animal to be given a particular pose or character. A plaster form was cast from this, and the skin then stretched tightly over the plaster.
Rowland Ward Taxidermy of Piccadilly, London, was established in the late 19th century and provided mounts to museums all over the world. Ward developed a method using wood and metal armatures over which a malleable compound was worked to develop the particular animal form. Many specimens were taxidermied for the Tervuren Museum in Belgium, including two White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) shot at Lado by Powell-Cotton and Armand Solvay in 1907.
Rowland Ward. 1892. “Horn Measurements and Weights of the Great Game of the World, being a Record for the use of Sportsmen and Naturalists”
