Ill-fated Attempt to Create Crystal Palace Monsters in New York

Continuing the theme of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, some more information about their sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and his ill-fated Central Park project.

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs get Grade 1 Listed Status Article.

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

The 33 life-size prehistoric animal sculptures made by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins under the direction of Sir Richard Owen, proved to be a big hit with the public when they went on display from 1854 onwards.  Despite Benjamin’s promises and Sir Richard Owen’s assurances, the display showing three eras in the history of life on Earth, wasn’t actually completed in time for the grand opening by Queen Victoria on June 10th 1854.

However, the exhibit remained very popular and along with the other attractions at the Crystal Palace site; attracted large numbers of visitors.  Hawkins had plans to add more models to the display but his ideas for expansion were soon shelved when the costs of this project were totalled.  The cost of making the models, preparing and managing the exhibit was estimated to be over £13,000, an absolute fortune in Victorian times.  Indeed, the palaeontological exhibit was the single highest expense of the whole Crystal Palace project.

The Megalosaurus Statue

The Megalosaurus statue at Crystal Palace a dinosaur from 1854.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

It was decided that no more models were to be built.  For Hawkins this was a bitter blow, although his reputation as England’s leading natural history artist and sculptor was secure he had relished the prospect of building even bigger and better models as more dinosaur discoveries were made.

A Display in Central Park

Knowledge of his work had spread far and wide.  He was invited to create exhibitions at a number of American museums and toured the US giving lectures.  In the late 1860s he was invited to New York by the city’s civic authorities with a view to modelling recent American prehistoric animal discoveries.  Hawkins promptly set up a studio on the upper west side of Manhattan (what is now coincidentally, the site of the American museum of Natural History).  He began to produce new versions of his beloved Iguanodon (believed to be his favourite model of all) and models of recently discovered dinosaurs from the USA.  The intention was to open a Crystal Palace type permanent display in Central Park.

Various life-size statues of ancient animals would be displayed in landscaped gardens, the plans were impressive and had the project been completed it would have made a spectacular exhibit right in the centre of New York.  The American press dubbed the project “the Palaeozoic Museum”, however no sculptures were ever finished.

Sculptures Destroyed

In 1871 due to rivalries amongst leading dignitaries and city politics, all modelling and landscaping was promptly stopped.  The partly finished sculptures were ordered to be destroyed and they were promptly smashed and buried in the park.  Perhaps, those who took part in the breaking up and burial of these leviathans were ashamed of what they had done as they made sure that no-one would find their handy work easily. To this day no trace of the remains of the models have been found in Central Park.  They remain buried and hidden from view, just like the fossils which inspired these wonderful works of art in the first place.

Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins never really got over the sense of disappointment at not being able to re-produce his Crystal Palace works in America.  He continued to work in the USA for a number of years before finally retiring to Britain in 1878.  He died in 1889, but his London dinosaurs live on and are still marvelled at by young and old today.

For toys and models of many of the prehistoric animals that are on display at Crystal Palace: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animals (CollectA Age of Dinosaurs).

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs get Grade 1 Listed Monument Status

In a move welcomed by dinosaur fans young and old the famous Crystal Palace sculptures of prehistoric animals have been granted Grade 1 Listed Monument status by the Dept. of Culture, Media and Sport.

The sculptures of prehistoric animals including Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus (some of the first dinosaurs to be named and described), were originally built for the re-opening of the Crystal Palace in 1854.  The original location for the Crystal Palace had been London’s Hyde Park which, in 1851 was converted into an Victorian theme park highlighting the achievements of the era – The Great Exhibition, the centrepiece of which was the enormous 22 acre glass pavilion – the Crystal Palace.

The task of building huge models of prehistoric animals to populate the landscaped gardens around the glass pavilion was given to Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins.  Sir Richard Owen was appointed to oversee the works to ensure they were sculpted accurately.

Although we know far more about the anatomy and posture of these animals, at the time these models depicted the very latest scientific knowledge.  They were the CGI models of the Victorian era.  Certainly, Hawkin’s sculptures were immense and it was an achievement to have them built and erected.  A contemporary description of the construction of the Iguanodon states “some thirty-five feet long with four iron columns, nine feet long, seven inches in diameter, 600 bricks, 650 five-inch drain tiles, 900 plain tiles and 90 casks of broken stone”.

By the time the permanent Crystal Palace exhibition was opened on June 10th 1854, dinomania had swept the country and over 40,000 spectators came to see the new statues of these prehistoric animals.  As well as the dinosaurs, models were also built of mammals, pterosaurs and marine lizards such as the Plesiosaurs.  In recognition of the work done on these animals by English scientists (aided most notably by Mary Anning).

These unique sculptures, now over 150 years old were first granted Grade Two Listing in 1973, but the recent Government ruling puts them into the same category as other famous monuments such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Eton College.  Grade 1 Listing is the highest, only buildings or monuments of outstanding historical or architectural importance are awarded this status.  This should permit the sculptures to receive funding for repairs and other work from English Heritage.

An Iguanodon 1850’s Style

An Iguanodon studies the Crystal Palace landscape.

As accurate representations of the real animals, they have a lot to be desired but they depict the remarkable progress made in the science of palaeontology and our understanding of prehistoric animals in the 153 years since they first went on show to the public.  The new Grade 1 status should ensure their preservation, the earliest attempts to reconstruct a prehistoric world, safeguarded for future generations.

The sculptures are also testament to the bitter rivalry between Sir Richard Owen and Gideon Mantell.  Mantell, an extremely gifted scientist had described the fore-limbs of Iguanodon as being more slender than the hind-limbs.  He had proposed that they might have been used for grasping and gathering vegetation as well as locomotion.  Sir Richard Owen, always scornful of Mantell’s work overruled him,  preferring to give the sculptures the elephantine stance that his own descriptions favoured.

We now believe that Mantell was right.  However, this does not stop dinosaurs being depicted in different ways.  Below are two models of Iguanodon (I. bernissartensis), one modelled under the direction of the London Natural History museum, the second modelled under the direction of the Museum of Stuttgart.

Same dinosaur, but different depiction.

Dinosaur Models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Can Molluscs help Solve the Riddle of a Mass Extinction?

Popular culture has covered the mass extinction event that marked the end of the Cretaceous period and saw the demise of the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles, ammonites and a host of other species.  However, it appears that extinction events have occurred at regular intervals throughout pre-history.  When they happen, they provide opportunities for other groups of animals to evolve and dominate.

Mass Extinctions

This can allow whole new clades to develop, such as the ancestors of the dinosaurs which took advantage of the lack of competition to establish themselves.

To read an article on how new discoveries at the famous Ghost Ranch site in the USA is helping our understanding of the evolution of dinosaurs, click below:

New Ghost Ranch Discoveries cast light on Dinosaur Ancestors.

One of the biggest mass extinctions occurred around 250 mya and marks the end of the Permian epoch.  Scientists remain divided over the cause of the Permian mass extinction; an event that wiped out 95% of life on Earth.  Some scientists believe in the “impact theory”, like the end-Cretaceous extinction event which was caused by the impact of an extra-terrestrial body such as a meteor, comet or asteroid.  Certainly, there is some evidence for a huge impact at around this time.

Papers published provide evidence of a 300 kilometre wide crater in what was the super-continent of Gondwanaland (southern continents), this crater is believed to be 50% bigger than the crater made at the end of the Cretaceous by the Chicxulab impact.

Snails and Oysters

Other scientists claim that the Permian mass extinction was a more gradual event – the “slow death syndrome”.  This theory is backed up by recently published research from a joint US and Canadian team.  This team studied the fossils of marine molluscs from sediments located as far apart as Thailand, China, Greece and the USA.  Molluscs are soft tissued invertebrates, usually with a protective outer shell.  Snails, oysters, mussels and clams are molluscs.  In a 4-year project the team reviewed the density and diversity of mollusc fossils from 258 mya to approximately 250 mya.  They noted that the number of mollusc fossils increased as the Permian came to an end.

Molluscs are known to adapt better to worsening environmental conditions than other creatures, so could the increase in mollusc follows indicate an increase in shellfish populations due to a slow, gradual decline in the environment?

A Palaeozoic Nautiloid (Cooperoceras)

The illustration of the Palaeozoic nautiloid Cooperoceras (C. texanum). The artwork was commissioned by Everything Dinosaur for use in the company’s Cooperoceras fact sheet.  The Palaeozoic was dominated by strange invertebrates.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view a replica of Cooperoceras (whilst stocks last) and other Palaeozoic creatures: CollectA Prehistoric Life Figures.

The End of the Palaeozoic

The debate will no doubt continue.  The mass extinction that marked the end of the Palaeozoic era may have been caused by a combination of factors.  The climate during the Permian was very harsh, with very cold, dry seasons, followed by hot, dry ones, punctuated by monsoon rains.  During this time there was a lot of volcanic activity.  The formation of the giant super-continent Pangaea would have led to a loss of shallow sea habitats and the Panthalassa ocean currents (otherwise known as the Panthalassic ocean); from the Greek meaning “all the seas”, would have been altered and disrupted.  This may have depleted the seas of oxygen and led to stagnation conditions which together with the other factor of a meteorite impact could have resulted in the mass extinction.