Auzoux model of human ('Eric')
Maker
Maison Auzoux (estab. Circa 1827)
Date
Circa 1933
Description
Auzoux papier-mâché model of full-sized human with removable parts and numbered features, on original metal stand. Made c.1933, this object is an excellent example of an Auzoux ‘homme clastique’ model. Designed to replicate human anatomy realistically, the object features 24 removable parts and hundreds of veins, arteries and muscles rendered in exceptional depth and detail on the model’s form.
The object has a strong historical connection to the noted University of Melbourne academic, and former Dean of the Physiology Department, William Osborne, whose revisionist curriculum was introduced at the University in 1910. The object neatly encapsulates Osborne’s academic project, namely, the separation of theory and clinical practice, as well as the consequences this curriculum change had on student enrolment in Physiology. A letter dated October 23 1933, written by William Osborne and addressed to the Chairman of the Finance Committee outlines a request for an ‘anatomical model’ ‘necessary for teaching Physiology to those non-medical students who have no opportunity of acquiring knowledge of the body in the dissection room.’ Osborne writes, ‘I would therefore ask your permission to order…the model specifically designed for non-medical students and costing £173.’ A reply authored by the Registrar and dated October 23 1933, affirms Osborne’s request: ‘The Finance Committee agreed to your proposal to purchase a model figure at a cost of £173 to be charged to your apparatus grant’.
The model has the nickname ‘Eric’; how and why the model was provided with this first-name is unknown.
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