Image Source: CBCA
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds
Giraffes became THE fashion from clothes to hair styles, ceramics to wallpaper. There were even ice creams and a new colour name 'giraffe' which later we would call cafe au lait. Here is an example of the wallpaper showing how "wild" the people were for this new creature and fashion.
I have read two books about Zeraffa - Zeraffa Giraffa by Dianne Hofmeyr illustrated by Jane Ray and A Giraffe for France by Leith Hillard illustrated by Sophie Blackall.
Blurb: In 1824 the Pasha of Egypt gave a baby giraffe to the King of France. Along with her keeper, Atir, Zeraffa Giraffa travelled over 4000 miles, sailing down the Nile, across the Mediterranean and then walking 550 miles from Marseilles to Paris. Zeraffa arrived in 1827, the first giraffe ever seen in France. All Paris fell in love with her. Gardeners clipped giraffe hedges; ladies twisted their hair into styles à la Girafe; dogs wore spotted jackets. BookTrust
Blurb: The true story of how the first giraffe came to France in 1826 and the remarkable effect that the animal had on French society at the time. It tells of her capture at an oasis near the River Nile, the voyage across the Mediterranean and the amazing walk from Marseilles to Paris.
The back story:
Zeraffa means charming or lovely one. Zeraffa was a gift from the ruler of Egypt (Muhammad Ali) to the King of France (Charles X). She was captured in Sudan. She walked the final 550 miles from Marseilles to Paris. The whole journey took two and half years. By the time she arrived in Paris she was four metres tall and she was the first giraffe ever seen in France.
- Art in Society, The Art of Giraffe Diplomacy, Phillip McCouat, 2015.
- The Fashion Historian, La mode a la girafe, Katy Werlin, 2014.
- Hyperallergic, How Zafara, France's first giraffe, became a cultural sensation, Allison Meier, 2017.
- NPR, Book extract Zafara: A giraffes true story, Michael Allin, 2006
- Wikipedia, Zafara (giraffe).
I have not seen these three books but they might be useful additions when you explore this topic:
I also found some work displayed in a classroom:
Image source: Herts for Learning - click to see closer images of this creative work.
Here is a painting from 1827
Image source: Hyperallergic