Inflatable armbands made from pig’s bladder

"Neapolitanische Kinder beim Baden" (1879, 17 x 41 cm) by John Singer Sargent

A painting from 1879 showing children taking a bath in the ocean – one is wearing inflatable armbands made from pig’s bladder…
Seen in “art” – Das Kunstmagazin, August 2010, p. 106

The picture triggered several lines of thoughts:
– animals being used as materials for human fun/luxury/everyday objects
– natural/ecological materials vs. artificial materials (plastic)

Actually the material (pig bladder) is very interesting in itself. It was used for various purposed in earlier days…
– filled with air as a balloon
– as a membrane, like for example as a drumhead or as an airtight membrane inside a football
– in traditional cuisines
– as a container / packaging for transport (liquids, cheese, important documents)

Nowadays:
– extracellular matrix products for medical technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_bladder
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harnblase