About the author of the mushroom models, Heinrich Johannes Arnoldi (July 11, 1813 – December 28, 1882), only scarce information is at hand. He was a member of the Thuringian Pomological Society in Gotha (Thüringen Pomologische Gesellschaft or Thüringer Gartenbau Verein) and eventually co-owner of the porcelain factory run by the Arnoldi family. After the death of the pomologist Dietrich from Gotha, who embarked on making fruit models from paper pulp, he decided to continue working on fruit models (called “pomological cabinet”) from porcelain to preserve the pomological riches of the region.
The Arnoldi Company began making mushroom models in 1871. One of the collection’s main objectives was to utilize it as a teaching aid in schools, societies and at home, to enable people to distinguish poisonous and inedible species from edible ones with ease, thus getting rid of the well-grounded fear of poisonous mushrooms. Each shipment therefore clearly stated whether it contained edible, poisonous or inedible mushrooms, or possibly a combination of all three. Each shipment comprised 12 models, descriptions of the fungi represented by the models, wooden bases and a cardboard box. 35 shipments contained 420 models of mushrooms belonging to 237 different species. At the end, 4 special collections with descriptions were presented (Figure 2): 23 edible (Arnoldi, year unknown), 22 poisonous and inedible (Arnoldi, 1881), 24 edible and 24 poisonous and inedible mushroom species. The company also published several lists and sales catalogues of fruit and mushroom models (Inhalts-Verzeichniss und Verkaufspreise der naturgetreuen, plastisch-nachgebildeten Früchte und Pilze von H. Arnoldi).
The mushroom models were made according to the same procedure as the fruit models: first, a plaster mould filled with composition mass and two halves pressed together was made. Then plaster was applied to the model and dried. The mushrooms were painted with utmost precision, making them truly similar to those in nature. Different stages in the mushroom development are often depicted on a single base. Each stage of a mushroom of a certain species represents one model, with each model having a handwritten model number corresponding with the number in Arnoldi’s sales list.
The Slovenian Museum of Natural History holds 394 models of 225 fungal species. The Rudolfinum Regional Museum of Carniola allegedly purchased H. Arnoldi’s collection of mushroom models before 1885, considering that it was already mentioned by Voss and Deschmann by that time. At the end of the 19th century, it was exhibited in Room 9, in wall cabinet No. 3. The labels from this exhibition have been preserved on the underside of the bases of the mushroom models. These models were also exhibited in the museum in the first half of the 20th century, specifically in the middle of the corridor in standing cabinet No. 6. The labels from this exhibition are attached to the front of the models’ bases. In 1947, during the reorganization of the museum, the collection, along with others, had to be moved to the depot owing to the lack of exhibition space, and it remained there until its processing in 2015.
Photos: Ciril Mlinar Cic
