James L. Clark's Black Rhinoceroses
In 1912 Corinne gave her brother an expensive Bronze Rhinoceroses cast by James Lippett Clark one of the nation's most distinguished artist, explorer's and scientists.
Clark was a member of the National Sculpture Society, the New York Zoological Society and the American Geographical Society. He also did the Elephant Tusk Dinner Chime in the hallway and was a friend of Roosevelt.
He was a favorite taxidermist of the president. Clark also made frequent trips to Africa and returned with numerous specimens he gave to TR to donate to the Museum of Natural History and other museums across the country.
In a 1970s recorded tour of the house Ethel said her mother hated the Rhino and tried to hide it by putting family messages on the tick birds and hung her garden hat on the horns.
In short Edith would be turning Corrine's expensive gift into a sight gag. You could imagine what TR would have thought and how Corrine would have felt. Corrine was Edith's best lifelong friend and Clark was a friend of TR’s and a famous sculptor and taxidermist. Trying to hide his work under scraps of paper and her gardening hat would not have been well received.
Covering the rhino with family notes would have been a tough job in 1912 because all the kids were out of the house. They were either married, working, or away at school. Eithel was 22 and about to marry Richard Derby. The Roosevelt's were empty nesters. Where were the notes and family messages going to come from?
Edith guarded her privacy and wouldn't have let her personal messages left in the open and TR wouldn’t have permitted his highly personal and upcoming presidential campaign messages stuck to a tick birds on a rhino down the hall from his office.
Perhaps the last and most practical consideration is the rhino wasn't in the hall blocking the door to the dining room in 1912. Instead, there are pictures of the rhino out of the way in the North Room.