BMS Travelling Exhibition of fungus models

The Travelling Exhibition was inaugurated in 1997, when Mrs Eileen Chattaway offered a number of models of larger fungi on loan to the Society for the purpose of presenting fungi to the public in exhibitions and museums. Eileen Chattaway had begun to model fungi following the Society Workshop on model-making held at Pershore in 1987. Her initial collection of 27 models represented 31 species of fungi. Each species has been modelled directly from nature and one or more fruit bodies are mounted on the natural habitat of leaf litter, grass, etc set upon a thick piece of cork. Some models show two species. Eileen Chattaway was awarded a Benefactor's Medal by the Society in December 2000. She published a brief account 'Making Models of Fungi' in the Association of British Fungus Groups Journal 6 (2) 26-27 2002.

For purposes of travelling a box was purchased for each model. Transparent boxes were made in four standard sizes to contain models of differing size. Box tops and sides were made from acrylic sheet and the bases of medium density fibre (MDF). Velcro was attached to the upper surface of the base, and to the lower surface of the cork base of the model, so that when the Velcro was brought together the models were fixed and could not move about inside the box.

The first venue was the Royal Literary and Scientific Institution at Bath. Since then the Exhibition has visited museums at Melton Mowbray, Bristol, Thornbury (Glos.) Ipswich and Bedford, the John Dony Field Centre at Luton, Liverpool Museum, the Exhibition at Swansea, the National Botanic Garden of Wales at Llanarthne, and by popular demand a second showing at Plantasia. The exhibition made up a central part of the Society's stand at the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2002, was at the Autumn Cornucopia Exhibition in Kew Gardens 13 October to 3 November 2002, and is now at the 'Plantastic' Exhibition at Luton Museum and Gallery, Wardown Park, Luton, until 2 November 2003.

In most museums the models were placed in cabinets, sometimes in their transparent boxes. On the Chelsea stand they were set amongst tree litter or turf together with further models made by Derek Frampton, Steve Kelly and Shirley Talboys, and as many species of live fungi as could be found in the London area in May 2002. In many cases, distinction between a live fungus and a model could only be established by touch.

In Kew, the models were placed in a table-top showcase and since condensation had to be avoided they were set amongst dry leaf litter and artificial grass. The artificial grass is attached to an MDF base. This enables single models to be set amongst the grass and a set of Shirley Talboys' Marasmius oreades models of different 'ages' was arranged in a fairy ring. A similar arrangement is on display at Luton, with the added advantage of a forest backdrop painted for the cabinet by Luton Museum artist Bernard Dillon.

In their natural setting, labelling is by discreet numbers with a separate reference list of species, otherwise the appearance is ruined by a sea of labels. A short text, of some 30 to 60 words, gives notes of interest. For future local exhibitions there will be advantage in giving some indication of the occurrence of the species as they occur in the local environment. The use of a natural setting is much more effective than having the models on their stands, although it is not always practicable.

The species represented in the collection (see images below) are:- Agarics: Amanita muscaria¹, Asterophora lycoperdoides¹, Calocybe gambosa¹, Cantharellus cibarius¹, Coprinus comatus¹, Hygrocybe calyptriformis², H. conica², H. pratensis², H. punicea², Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca², Inocybe geophylla var lilacina², Laccaria amethystina², Leotia lubrica, Mycena pura², Psilocybe semilanceata¹, Russula nigricans¹, Tricholoma sulphureum²; boletes, Boletus badius, B. edulis³, B.parasiticus¹ on Scleroderma citrinum, Suillus granulatus; club fungi, Clavulinopsis fusiformis¹, Clavariadelphus pistillaris¹; gasteromycetes, Lycoperdon perlatum³, Mutinus caninus¹, Phallus impudicus¹, Scleroderma citrinum; ascomycetes, Aleuria aurantia², Chlorosplenium aeruginascens¹, Helvella crispa², H. lacunosa², Morchella esculenta², Sarcoscypha coccinea². [Superscripts indicate:- ¹ Hand-modelled in clay or Das; ² Latex model, plaster of Paris mould; ³ Clay model, plaster of Paris mould.]

In 2003 Shirley Talboys most kindly loaned the species which she had provided for the Kew Exhibit to the Society for use with the Travelling Exhibition. These comprise the following agarics: Agaricus campestris, A. xanthoderma, Amanita muscaria, A. phalloides, Armillaria mellea, Cantharellus cibarius, Coprinus atramentarius, Macrolepiota procera, M. rhacodes, Marasmius oreades and Panaeolus foenisecii.A large model of the giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea, made by Derek Frampton, has recently been purchased, as have a number of commercial German models, some of which are to be included in the Travelling Exhibition and others used in Society education at other locations.

The time is now right for assembling a collection of models of all macrofungi which may be distinguished by external features. As noted in Ramsbottom's Handbook of the Larger British Fungi, first published in 1923, no fewer than 210 species of larger fungi were then represented by models: these were set out on stands in cabinets at the Natural History Museum in London. Most had been made by Sowerby before about 1810, and the others were commercial German Models. Nearly all the models were destroyed or dispersed during World War II (Tribe, Mycologist 10, 103-6, 1996) and no full collection is present in Britain today. A worthy aim for the beginning of this century is to establish in one place a collection of perhaps 1,000 species - represented as in their principal habitats rather than mounted on stands. Such a collection would greatly further public interest in mycology.

The Travelling Exhibition is about right with some 35 model species. The larger fungi do not represent all of mycology, and a vertical display of large photomicrographs of microfungi has latterly been included in this exhibition when it has been set out in certain venues. The microfungi are noted in their appropriate context, such as causation of plant disease, production of beneficial metabolites and as agents of spoilage.

I am always pleased to learn of exhibitions or museums in which the travelling exhibition might be accommodated. - Henry Tribe

The British Mycological Society Travelling Exhibition of fungus models