Great British eccentrics come in all different stripes and colors, and no era produced more interesting ones than during the reign of Queen Victoria. From 1837 to 1901, England produced some of its strangest and most interesting figures, including the master of Victorian whimsy in stuffed animal form, Walter Potter.
Using everything from cats to lambs, Potter built anthropomorphic scenes with his subjects that were all the rage in the mid-1800s. Mostly displayed in his home museum in Bramber, Sussex, England (which Damien Hirst unsuccessfully tried to buy at auction in 2003), Potter’s collection has long been a holy grail for fans of oddities. Now, it’s available for everybody to look at in Pat Morris and Joanna Ebenstein’s book, Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy.
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press
Image courtesy of Blue Rider Press