Walter Potter's curious world of taxidermy - Pat Morris

Welcome to Victorian taxidermist Walter Potters fantasy world of rabbit schoolchildren, cigar-smoking squirrels and exemplary feline etiquette in Walter Potters Curious World of Taxidermy

Walter Potter (18351918), a British country taxidermist of no great expertise, built anthropomorphic taxidermy tableaux that became famous icons of Victorian whimsy, including his masterpiece The Death & Burial of Cock Robin. His tiny museum in Bramber, Sussex, was crammed full of multi-legged kittens, two-headed lambs, and a bewildering assortment of curios. Potters inspired and beguiling tableaux found many fans in the contemporary art world: it was reported that a 1M bid by Damien Hirst to keep the collection intact was refused when the museum finally closed. Here, perhaps for the last time, many important pieces from the collection are showcased and celebrated with new photographs of Potters best-loved works. Darkly witty and affecting, Walter Potters Curious World of Taxidermy makes a charming, whimsical (and yes, slightly morbid) gift.