Taxidermy Fox
Log #5756
Latin: Vulpes vulpes
Description: Early box style taxidermy fox case by the world famous Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter of Bramber. Signed internally: WALTER POTTER BRAMBER 1861. Walter Potter (2 July 1835 -21 May 1918) was an English taxidermist noted for his anthropomorphic dioramas featuring mounted animals mimicking human life, which he displayed at his museum in Bramber, Sussex, England. The exhibition was a well-known and popular example of "Victorian whimsy" for many years, even after Potter's death. This fox was mounted the same year he produced his most well known piece "The Death and Burial of Cock Robin".
Potter's family ran The White Lion pub in Bramber, and as a teenager, his first attempt at taxidermy was to preserve the body of his own pet canary. At the age of 19, inspired by his sister, Jane, who showed him an illustrated book of nursery rhymes,Potter produced what was to become the centrepiece of his museum, a diorama of "The Death and Burial of Cock Robin", which included 98 species of British birds. This was so well-received that in 1861, he opened a separate display in the summer house of the pub, while satisfying the Victorian demand for traditional stuffed animals to earn a living.
The museum closed in the 1970s, and, after having been moved to Brighton and then to Arundel, was sold in 1984 to the owners of Jamaica Inn, Bolventor, Cornwall, where it attracted more than 30,000 visitors each year. It was then auctioned by Bonhams in 2003, realizing over £500,000. "The Death and Burial of Cock Robin" was the highest-selling item of the sale, raising £23,500. Present at the auction were Peter Blake, Harry Hill and David Bailey. A bid of £1m offered by Damien Hirst for the entire collection had apparently been rejected by the auctioneers, and the owners sued Bonhams, arguing that this offer should have been accepted.