TAXIDERMY

Athena the Owl

Florence Nightingale visited the Acropolis in Athens in 1850. While she was doing so, she rescued an owlet from the clutches of a band of local children. She dubbed the bird Athena and raised her by hand. The creature became domesticated and acquired a reputation for being highly protective of her mistress.

The Crimean War broke out. Nightingale decided to go The Crimea to nurse wounded soldiers. She concluded that it would be unwise to take Athena with her. Therefore, she vested the owl in the care of some of her relatives. They lodged in their attic and assumed that the bird would be able to feed itself by predating on the mice that were there. However, Athena was so domesticated that she did not know how to hunt. Therefore, when they went to check on her well-being, they discovered that she had starved to death. Nightingale had not yet set out when she learnt of what had happened. She was distraught at the news of what had happened and therefore chose to delay her departure until Athena had been properly stuffed. This was done. Nightingale sailed.

Location: The Florence Nightingale Museum, 2 Lambeth Palace Road, SE1 7EW

See Also: BIRDS; FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE; MENU

The Autoicon

The social theorist Jeremy Bentham wanted his remains to be something that his followers could use to gather before. He wished that his organs should be displayed around. The wish was set out in his will. His corpse was preserved by his friend the physician Thomas Southwood Smith. The resulting autoicon was presented to University College.

Location: University College, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT (purple, red)

The Bates Cat

Bates The Hatter has a stuffed feline. The animal was a stray that walked into the shop in 1920 and assumed the post of the shop cat.¹ It died and was stuffed for its employers, who gave it a cigar to smoke.

Location: 21a Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6HP. (Original home.) (red, orange)

73 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6NP. (Current home.) (blue, brown)

Website: www.bates-hats.com

¹. It is reputed that the beast was given the name Bink.

Cooper & Sons

In their day Cooper& Son were the best stuffers of fish.

The art is in the painting. Each scale has to be painted individually. If iridescent, may have to be painted three times.

Up to two weeks to do a fish.

Edward Gerrards & Sons

In its prime, Gerrards was world-famous. Alfred Hitchcock filmed his 1956 remake of his movie The Man Who Knew Too Much on its premises. It starred Doris Day and James Stewart.

In 1967 the firm moved to Chalk Farm.

Get Stuffed

The humorous writer David Sedaris has written about visiting Get Stuffed.

Location: 105 Essex Road, N1 2SL (purple, red)

Website: www.thegetstuffed.co.uk

John Gould

John Gould (1804-1881) was a self-taught taxidermist. He was very successful in his trade. He was appointed the bird stuffer to the Zoological Society. King George IV commissioned him to preserve the first giraffe to arrive in Britain.

The Horniman Walrus

In 1880s the Horniman Museum acquired a walrus hide was acquired from Canada. The taxidermist had never seen a live walrus and so did not know the true shape of the sea mammal. He overstuffed it, thereby rendering it a form previously unknown to even the most gourmand-inclined circles of walrus-kind.

Location: 100 London Road, Forest Hill, SE23 3PQ

Website: www.horniman.ac.uk/object/object-190371

Little Shop of Horrors

Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors is an emporium that sells stuffed animals.

Location: 11 Mare Street, E8 4RP

Website: www.viktorwynd.org/shop-of-horrorsl

Vaulting

Leach's storm petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) was named after William Leach (1791-1836), the leading expert on crustaceans of his day. He lived in a couple of rooms within the British Museum. He used to keep fit by vaulting over a stuffed zebra.

Location: Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG (blue, yellow)

Rowland Ward

Rowland Ward was founded in 1870 by James Rowland Ward (1848-1912). The firm specialised in birds and big game. It also published natural history books.

Location: 167 Piccadilly, W1J 9ED (purple, pink)

Website: https://rowlandward.org

David Backhouse 2024