Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy

The Death and Burial of Cock Robin by Walter Potter

When Victorian-era English taxidermist Walter Potter’s tiny museum of his own personal anthropomorphic creations was auctioned off in 2003 (read about it in Still Life by Melissa Milgrom) his whimsical collection was dispersed across the globe despite a $1 million bid from artist Damien Hirst to keep the collection together.

Many key pieces of Potter’s work were exhibited by collector Sir Peter Blake in 2010 at London’s Museum of Everything, drawing 30,000 visitors in six weeks.

Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy showcases photos of some of Potter’s best-loved work all in one place, and might be the only way they will ever be seen together again.

The book will also be accompanied by a documentary called “Where Kittens Wed and Birds Lament” directed by Ronni Thomas:

There was also a 1965 film about Potter’s work called Crazy Taxidermy Museum – Stuffed Animals in Costumes.