Taxidermied Black Bear Rug with Head. Enormous, soft, and perfect for posing on if you're Burt Reynolds or Jayne Mansfield. 

Size: 71 x 77 x 8 in. 

#4537 . 

The use of animal hides dates back to prehistoric times when humans let no part of their kills go to waste, and first discovered the practical benefits of using animal skins for warmth and protection. As civilizations developed, so did the techniques for treating and using these hides, making them safer and more efficient to wear and take care of. In modern times cowhide, once a simple staple of frontier and pioneer life, has become an indispensable part of the “Western chic” aesthetic, and leather is still one of the most common substances used to make garments much the same way it was thousands of years ago. Although hides are used less for home furnishing due to changing tastes and societal attitudes towards the practice, the bearskin rug is one of the most collectible and appreciated pieces. Bearskin rugs have been created from the pelts of polar, black, and grizzly bears for centuries, and were most often found in cabins or rural homes in mountainous areas, sometimes where the animal had actually been encountered. The tanning and taxidermy methods used to create a bearskin rug have existed for millennia, but they were perfected in the 18th Century when a new way of preserving the hide and stuffing the skull of the bear was found to prevent the spread of disease and to extend the longevity of the finished work beyond more than a decade. President Theodore Roosevelt, famous for his love of the outdoors and hunting, helped repopularize the animal skin rug (particularly the grizzly bear variety) in the 1920s, and even old Hollywood pictures of famous celebrities standing, sitting, or reclining on bearskin rugs have fetched premium prices at auctions. Although the practice has fallen out of vogue, and some states (like California) have outright banned the making and selling of bearskin rugs for conservation purposes, they are still popular pieces for hunters, mancave enthusiasts, and period film sets depicting a different era.