The curious world of Walter Potter / In pictures

Monkey riding a goat

Potter's museum charmed and delighted locals and tourists alike for almost 150 years. Although most famous for his anthropomorphic tableaux, there were several other pieces that captured the public imagination. One of the favourite items with visitors, and the subject of one of the museum's coloured postcards, was the Monkey Riding a Goat: a vervet monkey rather improbably depicted carrying a riding crop and seated astride a goat. According to the Bramber Museum's guidebook, both animals had come to an untimely end. The monkey, probably an escaped pet, reportedly died of shock when a bucket of cold water was thrown over him. The goat lived in a nearby park but frequently escapedPhotograph: Alan Kolc/Pat Morris/Joanna Ebenstein

The curious world of Walter Potter – in pictures

Walter Potter (1835-1918) was an amateur taxidermist who built tableaux that became icons of Victorian whimsy. A new book by historian of taxidermy Dr Pat Morris and New York-based artist and curator Joanna Ebenstein seeks to preserve and celebrate the now-dispersed collection with new photographs of his best-loved works

Kate Carter
Friday 13 September 2013

Walter Potter / The Man Who Married Kittens

Walter Potter : The Man Who Married Kittens

Walter Potter’s Twisted Taxidermy

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.

 

Walter Potter’s stuffed guinea pigs play miniature instruments.

My hero: Walter Potter by Kate Mosse

Whether guinea pigs playing a cricket match or kittens dressed in black tie at a wedding, Walter Potter had a wonderful way of telling stories with his taxidermy

Friday 24 October 2014

Walter Potter was a self-taught, Victorian taxidermist who created an extraordinary museum of narrative, whimsical taxidermy that became famous all over the world. He was born – and lived his entire life – in the modest Sussex village of Bramber, a few miles north of Brighton. As a boy, he loved nature and wildlife. From manuals (and a trip to the Great Exhibition in 1851) he taught himself to skin, preserve and stuff the creatures brought to him by local farmers and family friends: cats, foxes, rats, frogs, his own pet canary.