Walter Potter made a curious career as a taxidermist in 19th-century England. His creations weren’t made for sportsmen showing off their trophy kills, but instead were depicted elaborate scenes that he displayed at his family’s pub…
As Potter’s work gained attention, he opened a separate display in the family pub’s summer house. The small building contained “Mr Potter’s Museum of Curiosities” and drew visitors from miles around the tiny town of Bramber, West Sussex, until long after Potter’s death in 1918. Though Potter insisted that his animals were all “ethically sourced,” including farm kittens who were already being killed to prevent overpopulation, his work (for obvious reasons) eventually fell out of fashion as our collective interest in animal rights increased.
While the museum housing Potter’s collection closed in the 1970s, his work has been preserved and is now documented in a book by London taxidermy expert Pat Morris and Brooklyn museum curator Joanna Ebenstein, Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy. These are just a few of the remarkable photos from that book…
(via Beautiful Decay)