Jenny Haniver
Sailors once sold dried 'dragons' and 'devils' to curious buyers in European ports. They were made from rays and skates.
What was reported
A Jenny Haniver is the dried body of a ray or skate, cut, shaped and varnished to look like a demon, dragon or sea monster, often with a human-looking face formed by the nostrils and mouth on its underside. Sailors made and sold them in European ports from the 16th century.
The name may come from 'jeune d'Anvers', 'young one of Antwerp', where many were sold. The naturalist Conrad Gessner warned in 1558 that such creatures were fakes.
Explanations offered
They were sold as curiosities, basilisks or sea monsters and displayed in cabinets of curiosity. Some are still made as souvenirs. They're a reminder of how easily people could be fooled before natural history was well understood.
- When
- Sold from the 1500s
- Where
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Witnesses
- Sailors, collectors and naturalists
- Status
- Hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.