DIORAMAS127displayed by white, civilized individuals.^71 Likewise, decorum defined
the essential traits involved in being a lady: the appropriateness of looking
and being seen, in knowing what to wear and how to wear it, in under-
standing what to say and when not to speak. But most importantly, decorum
operated on the level of the surface. It defined textures and materialities
governing the inscriptions of status in objects and bodies alike—it di-
rected the gaze toward or away from objects, and it regularly hindered
or annihilated emotional responses. Taxidermy, with its reliance on
surfaces and intrinsic passification, perfectly lent itself to ventriloquiza-
tion of decorum.
As a concept pivotal to poetics and oratory, decorum exclusively ruled
the actions of humans, not those of animals.^72 Yet, the taxidermy animals
exhibited in natural history dioramas embodied decorum by suggesting
the appropriate positioning in the depiction of social interactions; by
always looking healthy, groomed, and powerful; and by displaying a
sense of composure and elegance even in the charged moments of the
FIGURE 3.7 Alaskan moose diorama in the Bernard Family Hall of North American
Mammals at the Natural History Museum, New York. Photograph courtesy of Mike
Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0.