Ever wonder what it’s like to meet a Triceratops? Here at the National Zoo, you don’t have to imagine. You can come face-to-face with Uncle Beazley Sculpture.
Uncle Beazley Sculpture is a life-size fiberglass statue. It represents a Triceratops. Louis Paul Jonas created this impressive artwork in 1967.
The name Uncle Beazley comes from a children’s book. The book is titled The Enormous Egg. Oliver Butterworth wrote it in 1956. The story tells of a boy. The boy finds an enormous egg. A baby Triceratops hatches from it. This Triceratops was named Uncle Beazley.
A film adaptation of the book aired on NBC. It was part of the NBC Children’s Theatre. The show aired on April 18, 1968. In the story, Uncle Beazley grows too big for the boy to handle. The boy brings him to the Smithsonian Institution. Beazley first lives at the National Museum of Natural History. But a law forbids stabling large animals in D.C. So Beazley moves to the National Zoo’s Elephant House.
The Uncle Beazley Sculpture is modeled after dinosaurs from the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Jonas designed nine dinosaurs for the Sinclair Oil Corporation’s pavilion. He worked with paleontologists. Barnum Brown and Edwin H. Colbert helped him. They were from the American Museum of Natural History. John Ostrom of Yale University also consulted.
Sinclair donated Uncle Beazley Sculpture to the Smithsonian. This happened after filming The Enormous Egg. Uncle Beazley was displayed at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum. The museum opened on September 15, 1967.
From the 1970s to 1994, Uncle Beazley Sculpture stood on the National Mall. It was in front of the National Museum of Natural History. In 1994, it moved back to the Zoo. It stayed in the former rhinoceros yard until 2003. The yard was renovated for Asian elephants.
In 2007, the Zoo restored Uncle Beazley Sculpture. Zoo staff created a garden exhibit near Lemur Island. The garden has plants from the Age of Dinosaurs. Ferns, papyrus, and giant taro grow here. Uncle Beazley Sculpture got another refurbishment in 2011.
NBC’s The Enormous Egg featured smaller Triceratops models. Jonas created these too. They showed Uncle Beazley Sculpture at different ages. In 1979, the producer donated the models to the Berkshire Museum. In 2014, they moved to the Berkshire Athenaeum. In 2018, one model moved to the EcoTarium in Worcester.
Today, Uncle Beazley Sculpture stands proudly. It is a reminder of a beloved children’s story. It connects us to the prehistoric world. Take a moment to appreciate this unique blend of art and science. Reflect on the tale of a Triceratops. A Triceratops hatched from a very unusual egg. It’s a quirky piece of D.C. history.