The creations of Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter, who once upon a time was famous for his elaborate, awwwww-inspiring, ew-provoking tableaux of dead baby animals aping human behavior—kittens playing croquet, bunnies going to school, and so on. In Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy (Blue Rider Press), out this week, these works may seem quintessentially Victorian in their merging of kitsch and morbidity—almost to the point of parody. But they also have a zany pop quality, as if conjured by Beatrix Potter (no relation) during an acid trip. Read more about Walter Potter’s work in a review by Bruce Handy. Below, a selection of photographs from the book, which makes a great Easter basket treat.
This tableau, The Kittens’ Tea and Croquet Party, was originally intended to be part of a larger allegorical work, The Planet of the Puddy Tats.
Oh, great. Drunk squirrels. Detail from The Upper Ten.
You’re thinking, I always wanted to know how a stuffed cat would wield a croquet mallet. Detail from The Kittens' Tea and Croquet Party.
Teacher’s petting zoo. Detail from* Rabbits’ Village School.*
“If teacher catches you copying my answers she’ll kill us.” “But we're already dead. And stuffed with sawdust and string. And like 150 years old.” Detail from* Rabbits’ Village School.*
“Poor Puss can’t ride her bicycle / Her eyes are dead as icicles.” -Victorian nursery rhyme. Detail from The Kittens’ Tea and Croquet Party.
Victorian curiosity? Or animal-rights propaganda aimed at undermining traditional human marriage? Walter Potter's The Kittens’ Wedding.
Nature fun fact: it was squirrels that taught chimps how to smoke cigars. Detail from The Upper Ten.
“You may now lick the bride.” Detail from The Kittens’ Wedding.
Cult Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter planning further humiliations for cute widdle aminals.
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