Meet George

Yesterday I went back to the Fusiliers Musuem for one last day. Most of my time was spent with George. Now that he's all finished (except for his medals, which are arriving on Tuesday) he is all complete. Given that the museum is now semi-open to the public (it's open except for the days work is going on) I feel like it's okay to show you George.

This is what he looks like without all of his accessories.

This is what he looks like with everything, including his bearskin.

That bearskin is, to be polite, revolting. It's shedding, smelly, and was formerly an insect home. But it's a conservator's job to make the revolting presentable, so we did our best. It has been thouroughly brushed, vacuumed, and brushed again so all of the hairs are roughly pointing down. And the case is sealed, so the general public doesn't have to smell it. But when I had to brush the back of it after it was installed, which means I practically had to stick my face in it? Eww.

And my supervisor introduced me to the best tool to brush out fur. A plain, everyday (clean!) kitchen fork. Sounds crazy but it works.