The Barometz

Discovering the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

"Wherefore I say you, in passing by the land of Cathay toward the high Ind and toward Bacharia, men pass by a kingdom that men clepe Caldilhe, that is full fair country. And there groweth a manner of fruit, as though it were gourds. And when they be ripe, men cut them a-two, and men find within a little beast, in flesh, in bone, and blood, as though it were a little lamb without wool. And men eat both the fruit and the beast. And that is the great marvel. Of that fruit I have eaten, although it were wonderful, but that I knew well that God is marvellous in his works."

Sir John Mandeville Travels*

The above excerpt describes what has been called variously the Barometz, Scythian Lamb, or Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (among others). I first read of this creature in Carol Rose’s Giants, Monsters & Dragons – An Encyclopedia if Folklore, Legend, and Myth**.

As time went on and accounts of the creature evolved, most centered upon a lamb-like creature (usually with golden fluff) that grew attached to a plant, confined to roam as far as its roots and typically dying when it had consumed all vegetation within its reach. In my youth I assumed it was some sort of exaggeration on the cotton plant. However, recently I discovered there was an actual plant in Asia, the Cibotium Barometz, thats fuzzy rhizomes have been made into animal-shaped gaffs for unwitting travelers.

The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary by Henry Lee^† delves more into the tale and the plants surrounding it (the 1887 publication can be read for free online here). His interesting examination includes the below illustration and makes comparisons between cotton plants in addition to noting that fern rhizomes are crafted into animalistic shapes in Eastern countries as souveniers.

These tales inspired my latest sculpture, The Barometz. Though not crafted from parts of the fern (and in fact I have not been able to find them available for purchase in the United States) it is instead covered in preserved moss, fake flowers, dried vines, glitter, and Swarovski pearls. The lamb eyes come courtesy of a taxidermy supplier. I also have plans to create a barometz-themed window this summer as well which will be a completely different interpretation – instead referencing the wooly fern more.

My Barometz

As a final note, this creature has always brought to mind another favorite of mine – the barnacle goose. These geese were said to “hatch” from barnacles and land directly in to the sea. This made them a convenient seafood that could be technically consumed during Lent.

In fact, I covered this creature in another blog post that you can find here.

*Mandeville, John. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville: The Version of the Cotton Manuscript in Modern Spelling. Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1900.

**Rose, Carol. Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth. ABC-CLIO, 2000.

^†Lee, Henry. The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary; a Curious Fable of the Cotton Plant. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1887.