Smiling in a Jar

The Mütter Museum exhibits medical curios in wax or formalin. Dermatological abnormalities, cross-sections of the human head, babies in a jar and the remains of the kind of people that used to be exhibited in circuses. Director Gretchen Worden is fascinated by the beauty of her collection and hopes for the same reaction from her visitors. ‘They’re all human beings - or parts thereof.’ With black humour, she tells the stories behind some of her favourite objects.