Lost Impossimals® and all related logos, names, characters and distinctive likenesses are the trade marks of Peter and Jayne Smith. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  Copyright © 2012 Peter Smith Collective Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Impossimals® is a registered trademark of Peter Smith Collective Ltd.  No content to be used without permission.

The Lost Impossimals have been a long time coming; they started way back in 2007 with a  small doodle on the back of an old sketchpad when I had the idea that Impossimals, far from being a new discovery, were in fact already part of history. As I thought more and more about where the Impossimals had originated from something clicked; not just any something, but a big something and suddenly I could see in full the entire history before me.That was the easy part, the hardest was the research, photographing, model-making and collating all the material so I could then start to paint them.
 

Early in 2008 I painted my first, the Hippocrocapig, on a second hand framed canvas found for a few pounds in a antique shop. I was hooked. Not only did the Lost Impossimals come alive but with them an entire new way of looking at a world that was bursting to get out.
 

I became an explorer, delving deeper into history to find little slips of information that would enable me to pinpoint not only an Impossimal but also the effect it had upon history after its discovery. To give this a real feel and to embed itself in my imagination I invented two things: Firstly the fictitious Nation Museum of Antiquities - a place to hold the Lost Impossimal collection. Secondly Sir Charles ‘Bluster’ Burroughs, a renowned Victorian explorer who discovered, catalogued and painted the Lost Impossimals out in the field. Combined they pulled together the Lost Impossimals to create the first Natural Twistory, real history with an Impossimal past.
 

The Lost Impossimals are painted by the award winning UK contemporary artist Peter Smith, creator of the Impossimals.

The Lost Impossimals - A Collection of Paintings that Created Twistory

MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES
FOUNDED 1786

THE EXPLORER

Charles ‘Bluster’ Burroughs
14th December 1820 – July 4th 1911

In 1902 Charles Burroughs commonly known as ‘Bluster Burroughs’, the foremost expert in the Victorian era of cryptozoology disappeared whilst exploring the Congo. Famed for regularly capturing unknown species in the wild before the advent of portable photography the whereabouts of his extensive collection of Defluo Impossimali or Lost Impossimal location paintings remained a mystery.  

Painted on anything that came to hand during his numerous expeditions around the world the paintings became a Victorian sensation. Exhibited widely throughout the Empire as part of the Impossisaurus Britannicas collection and viewed by some of the leading figures from the Victorian era they are said to have influenced the likes of scientists, scholars and authors alike until their eventual disappearance in 1902. A disappearance that coincided with Charles final expedition to find the lost Woolly Gullagaloo in an unexplored region of the Congo called Gwangu by the natives. An expedition that Charles never returned from prompting speculation that he had been devoured by a Striped Foofalow, an Impossimal renowned for its white teeth which it keeps in a jar when it’s not eating.

Many people have searched for Charles and his missing paintings but it was only when a young scholar assigned to cleaning duties disturbed a battered forgotten crate at the National Museum of Antiquities. A crate that had remained unopened since it’s delivery in 1911, nine years after Charles Burroughs alleged disappearance. Not only did it contain the lost paintings of Charles Burroughs but also his extensive notes. Even more importantly tucked away at the bottom was his diaries, a collection that revealed the extraordinary life of this great explorer from humble beginnings, his rise to fame and ultimately to his last ever entry dated July 4th 1911.

Click Here for The Forgotten Impossimalsaurus Giganticus Maximus

Now Available To The Viewing Public

Edward Trumpington Reveals The Secrets Of Exhibits At The National Museum Of Antiquities

What if behind every invention, every great book and every leap in knowledge lay one common influence? An influence so great it coined phrases, created ideas and bought new ways of thinking into our world. Impossible? No, just Impossimal.

The Lost Impossimals is a secret history, a Twistory, if you will, based around a collection of paintings by the explorer Charles Burroughs. Charles tracked down some of the most elusive creatures on the planet in his quest to amass the largest collection of Impossimal paintings before they became extinct, these paintings went on to tour the Empire as part of the Impossisaurus Britannicas collection. Seen by millions they were said to have been the influence of many, a claim that has remained unfounded until now.

Don’t miss your chance to see the Impossimalsaurus Giganticus on tour. Catch the Lost Impossimals on the complete Twistory tour at venues throughout the UK. Click for full tour dates.

See The Lost Impossimals And Discover More about these Mythical Creatures