The collection of unicorn horns in early modern Europe.‖ I explored the origins of the horn (actually the tusk of a small arctic whale known as the narwhal), the legend of the mythical unicorn (encompassing everything from Christianity to antidote superstition), . One of the myriad items selected for discussion was, of all things, the unicorn horn. The subject of this thesis, an exploration of the unicorn as a collectible past and present, is in some ways unusually broad.
By becoming kitsch, art touches on the confusion that reigns in the "taste" of customers. The already complex legend of the unicorn was further added to by the spread of Christianity. Although the unicorn is killed, it lives again in the final tapestry, symbolizing Christ and the idea of the Resurrection.
Copenhagen and definitively reclassifies the so-called unicorn's horn as the tusk of the narwhal (fig. Contemporary literature on class and popular culture interprets this prevailing view of the unicorn as a symbol of vulgarity and tastelessness. Although not many examples have been found. in the late nineteenth century the idea of the unicorn clearly did not disappear.
The references to the ―Unicorn Tapestries‖ in their performances are indicative of the unicorn passing directly from the realm of high culture to that of popular culture. In the ―Special Features‖ segment of The Last Unicorn DVD, Beagle recalls his mother (who was an elementary school teacher) describing a unicorn. Other examples in the literature are indicative of a comparable transition of the unicorn from high to popular culture.
The Unicorn as Collectible Object and Its Modern-day Collectors
One reason may have to do with the size of the majority of unicorn collectibles. Samantha started collecting unicorns after being "enthralled" by the movie The Last Unicorn eleven years ago, which shows the influence of popular culture. Her collection is arranged by size and she is working on having a larger display area so that all the unicorns will be displayed in one place.
Lynda does not name any of the unicorns in her collection because she points out that most have names furnished by the manufacturer, alluding to the mass-produced nature of the objects. Lynda doesn't know what a narwhal is, and she doesn't know sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European cabinets of curiosities. He does not think of his collection as an investment and would never sell a unicorn from the collection.
She is familiar with narwhals and would like to own a narwhal tooth——a fake one made of resin.‖ Although she indicates knowledge of the narwhal, Gabi still expresses her distaste for—the idea of [unicorns] and [ cut] to hunt. from their horn‖ for the medicinal or antidote properties she believes they have. Gabi is also aware of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European cabinets of curiosities, which she describes as "horrible displays of disabled people and animals." She does not associate unicorns with any particular religion and only became aware of unicorns as a teenager when she saw the movie The Last Unicorn—another indication of the impact of popular culture. Matthew is familiar with narwhals, defining one as "the unicorn of the sea, whose spiral tooth is commonly thought to be a unicorn's horn." Unfamiliar with sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European cabinets of curiosities, Matthew does think that the horn of a live unicorn can cure anything and neutralize any poison.
He accepts that Christianity has had a strong influence on the legend of the unicorn, but does not identify unicorns with any specific religion today, suggesting the loss of this particular connotation over time. Matthew's description is again indicative of the connection between unicorns and creatures in Greek mythology and the influence of popular culture, particularly The Last Unicorn. She has never publicly exhibited the collection and does not communicate with other unicorn collectors.
She started collecting because of "the beauty and meaning behind unicorns and what they represent," noting that unicorns can be found in the Bible. A classmate informed me that she saw a framed drawing of a unicorn in one of the rooms (Fig. 131). Richard considers his collection of unicorns private, has never displayed it in public, and does not communicate with other unicorn collectors.
Transformations and Continuities in Collecting and Collectors
As we saw in chapter one, Rudolf's main motivation for expanding his collection with a unicorn object was his belief in the horn's antidote. Collectors may also be motivated by the sheer thrill of the hunt and the great effort it can take to obtain a desired object. It appears that all seven collectors I interviewed participate in the type of collecting defined by Pearce as “fetishistic collecting.” Pearce makes a distinction between fetishistic collecting and the systematic collecting of Rudolf II and 'souvenirs'.
When collectors ―remove an object from the secular, profane, undifferentiated realm of commodities and ritually transform it into a personally and socially significant object … a sacralized object. Similarly, the interviewees' unicorn collections reflect the particular preferences of each of them (eg Gabi specifically seeks figurines that do not include fairies) and reveal their trust, perhaps unconsciously, in the "magical compensation" these objects provide. As an extension of the self, collections can provide a forum for the expression of rational and passionate aspirations.
Between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries, the object collected was said to be a physical relic of the unicorn itself—an authentic horn. The text also referred to the legend of the unicorn.282 Although the narwhal itself is more typically associated with scientific magazines such as National Geographic, it is occasionally (though rarely) commercialized in the same kitschy way that we identify with. Matej defines the narwhal as "a sea unicorn whose spiral tusk is usually considered to be a unicorn's horn.").
The unicorn is usually colored white, as shown by a simple Google Image search for 'unicorn'. Of the first eighteen results that Google provides, they are all white.290 In the images of. In the case of the modern unicorn (from the twentieth century onwards), the creature is more often depicted as female and/or castrated. Fussell in Class refers to a unicorn as “itself (itself?),” indicating the ambiguity of the creature's gender.295.
The phallic nature of the unicorn must be seen within the province of psychoanalysis. Furthermore, the Jungian analyst Michael Vannoy Adams writes in his book The Mythological Unconscious that all the -images of the unicorn in legend and art constitute a specific context for interpretation. 302 Serge Leclaire, Psychoanalyzing: On the Order of the Unconscious and the Practice of the Letter, translated by Peggy Kamuf (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998), 74.
Justina of Antioch with a donor, the tip of the unicorn's horn ends right at Justina's hips (fig. 27). The Disappearance of the Middle Ages: A Study of the Forms of Life, Thought, and Art in France and the Netherlands in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.
