Menagerie-a-Trois

Today I completed what I think will probably be my most ambitious papercut of the set. It's of the Tower of London menagerie that had been in existence since roughly 1201 to about 1835 when they were removed to the London Zoo. Here I do a really rough history of animals that had been in the collection throughout the ages. The size is about 4' x 1.5'.


Can you see:
1. A flutist playing for a lion
2. An artist painting the first elephant that many people had ever seen in Europe
3. A polar bear being taken for a walk by the menagerie keeper so that it can fish in the River Thames
4. People lining up to go into the menagerie, the admission price a cat or dog to feed to the lions
5. A dog that gets thrown in with a lion, but the lion befriends it and it continues to live with the lion
6. An elephant that get fed wine every day
7. A lion that is poked with a hot iron at exactly the right time during Queen Elizabeth I's coronation speech
8. A pipe smoking baboon
9. A monkey that is holding onto a boy's leg that he just tore off
10. An ostrich that ate 80 nails
11. Lions that can tell if you're a virgin or not?

All this and more is found in this papercut. Quite the history!