I recently came across the most incredible archives of figures. These rare Wax figures with glass eyes, human hair and many with porcelain teeth by the French Master, Pierre Imans (the same company produced a layer of wax over the hands and face of St. Bernedette of Lourdes to preserve her body) are some of the best I have found to date. Admittedly, some of the figures looked quite gruesome, almost cadaver-like and not everyone would be excited to find themselves alone in a dark basement surrounded with these eerily life-like figures. However, I have been hunting for a find like this for my research for several years.
In a recent e-mail conversation with Chicago's Sara K. Schneider author of Vital Mummies, I asked her advice about where I would be able to find these types of rare figures. Her advice - probably at the back or a garage, attic or basement. How right she was. Three floors under a building in a room beyond a room these precious pieces, just two of a much larger collection, had been hidden for many years. I was fortunate to be able to record most of them for my research but the hunt goes on for additional 'lost' pieces.
