Author: Big_Mama
Saturday, 29 May 1999 - 06:14 pm |        |
Has anybody besides me noticed that the facial mutilations of Catherine Eddowes resemble the makeup of a harlequin? Vertical lines transecting the eyelids (slashes by Jack) a coloring of the tip of the nose (cut off by Jack),
and triangles on the cheeks (triangle shaped flaps of skin cut by Jack). Significance? |
Author: Caz
Tuesday, 01 June 1999 - 02:36 pm | |
Hi Big Mama,
Interesting post.
I wondered if the 'triangles' could have been meant as the roman numeral v for 5 as in 5th ripper victim.
Probably not, but worth a stab (ouch, sorry!)
Love,
Caz |
Author: Edana
Wednesday, 02 June 1999 - 09:52 am | |
From the Casebook Files:
The face was very much mutilated. There was a cut about a quarter of an inch through the lower left eyelid, dividing the structures completely through. The upper eyelid on that side, there was a scratch through the skin on the left upper eyelid, near to the angle of the nose. The right eyelid was cut through to about half an inch.
There was a deep cut over the bridge of the nose, extending from the left border of the nasal bone down near the angle of the jaw on the right side of the cheek. This cut went into the bone and divided all the structures of the cheek except the mucuous membrane of the mouth.
The tip of the nose was quite detached by an oblique cut from the bottom of the nasal bone to where the wings of the nose join on to the face. A cut from this divided the upper lip and extended through the substance of the gum over the right upper lateral incisor tooth.
About half an inch from the top of the nose was another oblique cut. There was a cut on the right angle of the mouth as if the cut of a point of a knife. The cut extended an inch and a half, parallel with the lower lip.
There was on each side of cheek a cut which peeled up the skin, forming a triangular flap about an inch and a half. On the left cheek there were two abrasions of the epithelium under the left ear.
I have always thought that these facial mutilations were sort of a parody of applying make-up. The attentions to the eyes, the mouth, the nose and the ears..all of the features, as if JTR was trying to either destroy these features or make them 'different' somehow. Maybe he was making a 'painted lady'. He might have considerd these features as 'feminine' parts of the body as much as the uterus or vagina and wanted to destroy them.
Edana |
Author: Caz
Wednesday, 02 June 1999 - 01:59 pm | |
Hi All!
Thanks for that, Edana.
Your 'painted lady' comments put me in mind of some more anecdotes gleaned from the autobiog of my suspect, artist and actor, Walter Weedon Grossmith. Can I write about just a couple of them here? Yep? Ta ever so :-)
In his youth Weedon was asked to repaint the features on a large wax doll which had been obliterated by fire. He used all his artistic skills and went to 'a good deal of trouble' to create a realistic baby face. All wasted. When the little girl saw the result she burst into a flood of tears and accused old Weedy of 'spoiling Dolly'. To make the child happy again he was obliged to rub out his perfect creation and do a very basic dolly face with two daubs of crimson for cheeks and exaggerated eyebrows and lashes. He was far from amused.
As a small boy, Weedon's first attempt at art had been snubbed too. He had painted a clock in the Times newspaper red and green, and the newsboy accused him of rendering the paper 'damaged and worthless' as a result. "Damaged and worthless indeed! My first painting worthless!..."
One gets the impression that, as a 59 year-old man writing his memoirs, events such as these had left more of a mark than they should normally merit. But that is of course IMHO (wriggle wriggle in Jules' absence :-))
Love,
Caz |
Author: Edana
Wednesday, 02 June 1999 - 02:07 pm | |
Very interesting Caz. I understand how poor Weedon felt. I deal with artwork rejection on a daily basis and I remember when I was in art school I was extremely sensitive of critique. I soon learned to take it all in stride (heh), but I can see where it might cause some strange character defects in someone not quite stable. Artistic temperament and whatnot. Was JTR making an artistic statement in his own demented way?
Edana |
Author: Christopher George
Wednesday, 02 June 1999 - 03:42 pm | |
Hi, Caroline:
It is a bit quieter on this board than on the diary board so I would like to compliment you on your research on Grossmith and the doll and take this opportunity to ask you precisely what you meant by your revelation that the Maybrick diary led you to Grossmith as a suspect in the Whitechapel murders? What aspect precisely in the content of the diary led you to suspect Walter Weedon Grossmith?
Chris George |
Author: Caz
Thursday, 03 June 1999 - 08:45 pm | |
Hi Chris,
Now, how do I go about this one? Yep, okay, I'll answer you here. In the past I was a bit sensitive to being laughed off the boards, but what the heck? I trust you to at least listen and tell me gently what you really think of my 'odd' notions :-)
Some of the diary 'rhymes' sounded vaguely familiar to me as I kept re-reading them. Either their rhythm, scanning and so on, or in some cases the actual wording, brought long-forgotten 'songs' back into my head, rather than poems. I wasn't absolutely sure and I am certainly no expert with these particular songs, but then I thought maybe neither would Anne or Mike be, so did they know what they were doing if and when they 'composed' the rhymes, and why be so subtle about it that this had not been mentioned before?
I started researching the subject in more depth, regarding the dates that the songs I thought I recognised were written and performed, and was surprised to find how contemporary they were to the JtR murders. I became more surprised still when I delved further into the stories behind the songs.
Then I looked for 'clues' in those disputed Yours Truly letters just to see if I could find just one tangible link to my 'songs'. I found what I think is a goodun. If the 'clue' IS fair dinkum, the letter author had to have inside knowledge of a certain production (date and venue) which ONE of my diary songs also came from. Only a handpicked few would have possessed this knowledge at the time. I scoured the best books on the subject and came across this Weedon fellow.
There is so much more to tell since I found him, I hardly know where to start. But I have since found links between Weedon and Liverpool, Weedon and Whitechapel, Weedon and America and Canada, Weedon and the south coast of England, Weedon and Punch contributions, Weedon and newspaper illustrations, and that damned autobiog that I find so hard to pick up :-)....I could go on and on, he is everybloodywhere!
As it is 1.45am here I hope you'll excuse me if I stop now and get some shuteye.
Speak to you soon, Chris. Thanks for listening.
Love,
Caz |
Author: Christopher George
Friday, 04 June 1999 - 08:09 am | |
Greetings, Caroline:
Thank you so much for your expanation and I wish you well with your pursuit of your suspect. Very interesting. I do not think it is surprising that the Dear Boss letters or some of the rhymes attributed to the Ripper or a hoaxer posing as the Ripper might have snatches or echoes of popular songs in their writings. Perhaps the Ripper was humming a popular tune while he merrily carved away at his victims. Bizarre thought.
All the best
Chris |
Author: Caz
Friday, 04 June 1999 - 09:52 am | |
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for your good wishes. They are very much appreciated.
The Yours Truly letter I found did not actually refer to any songs, but to likely details of the show which contained such songs, which would have been pretty secret, certainly at the time the letter was posted, and not widely known about even now.
So if the letter-writer was just a hoaxer, he could have been Weedon. It was only upon further 'research' into this man's life that I felt that I'd only found the tip of the iceberg. In other words he appears to me to have been far more than just an anonymous letter-writer. We'll have to see....
Thanks again Chris.
Looking forward to the New Jersey ripper conference enormously. I promise to behave :-)
Love,
Caz |
Author: eastender
Thursday, 30 March 2000 - 03:26 pm | |
Hello, all.
Has it been proposed that perhaps Jack's abduction of poor Kate's left kidney was due to his mid-night botch job in slicing out his intended trophy, a good 1/3 of the uterus found still in her abdomen? Sort of a "compensation prize" of the perfect specimen he sought? |
Author: Leanne Perry
Thursday, 30 March 2000 - 06:07 pm | |
G'day East ender,
Good point! And I remember reading somewhere, sometime, that Catherines 'husband' (or another relative), had kidney problems. This would signify a knowledge of Eddowes and her family.
Leanne! |
Author: Julian Rosenthal
Wednesday, 05 April 2000 - 10:59 pm | |
G'day everyone,
I don't think it's ever been explained satifactorily that Jack was after Catherines Kidney. I reckon as he was ripping and slashing away he came upon it accidently and thought "Hmmm what the %(%^ is this, I' think I'll take it with me, then puts it in his pocket and goes to work on Catherines face.
Waddya reckon.
Jules |
Author: Jill De Schrijver
Friday, 12 May 2000 - 07:25 am | |
I've finished Eddowes wounds.
This was an exemplerary post-mortem report, so I did not have to guess a lot; plus there was the already existing drawing.
Then why did I made a remake? Because it is partially drawn in perspective (face) and because the action of drawing itself, I noticed before, helped more to understand all. Also because on the original drawing of Catherine's wounds, the organical wounds were not to be found.
I marked two dark stars for the missing organs.
The dark scratches are the wounds of the organs.
The skin flaps of the legs I marked by adding extra lines.
 |
Author: Christopher-Michael DiGrazia
Friday, 12 May 2000 - 02:42 pm | |
Sterling work, Jill. It would be of great interest for anyone who owns Paul Begg's "Uncensored Facts" to compare Jill's schematic with the drawing made by Frederick Foster at the mortuary as well as with the famous photograph of poor Eddowes pinned up against a wall with her wounds stitched closed, as I did. It goes a great way in helping to understand her mutilations.
CMD |
Author: Davidoz
Tuesday, 12 December 2000 - 07:55 pm | |
Holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery:
"Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and of earth's abominations."
Miserable mortals, open your eyes! |
Author: NA
Sunday, 10 November 2002 - 05:23 pm | |
| Is there a link to this photo someone can share? Thanks. |
Author: David O'Flaherty
Sunday, 10 November 2002 - 05:48 pm | |
Hi, NA
If you return to the main page, you can choose 'victims' from the list on the left. Select Catherine Eddowes and her autopsy photographs illustrate her case.
Dave |
Author: NA
Monday, 11 November 2002 - 02:18 am | |
| I'm sorry for your trouble, but would you mind posting the link? I can't find it where I think it's supposed to be. |
Author: David O'Flaherty
Monday, 11 November 2002 - 08:47 am | |
| victims |
