I have been collecting historic taxidermy for over 30 years and have only ever bought, never sold, with the inevitable consequence that I have now run out of space. It is time now to make some room for new purchases and so I am offering here a few cases from my own collection.
All of the cases here are what I think can reasonably be termed 'high end'. They are good examples of the very best of the taxidermist's art. Like all collectors I have made some mistakes, but those mistakes will not be listed on this site and you can buy with some confidence.
All of the cases offered here predate 1947 (as you would expect most are from the period 1890-1900) so special items aside (e.g., Otters, Wild Cats and Red Squirrels) no DEFRA documentation is required to cover sales.
If this site works and cases sell, I will:
(a) improve the site and make it a bit more polished
(b) offer a sales service to other collectors, for a small fixed flat fee (£20?)
(c) offer a commision service for non-collectors who want a valuation and description service.
Nothing can be bought from this site without being seen 'in the flesh', although I will be happy to reserve any case for 7 days with absolutely no commitment from the wouldbe purchaser (this is a hobby not a business).
In the spirit of the Internet, please feel free to use any of the images or information on this site for any (non malicious) purpose you wish.
I personally having seen a large number of "antique" taxidermy cases in both museums and private taxidermy collections that only a small percentage of the overall work produced is actually worthy of preservation. Many “labelled pieces” are best described as “junk” and do very little to convince others that this subject matter is both worthy of preservation and or collection. Do not forget that in the Victorian era, virtually every large village in the UK had a barber / taxidemist. The taxidermy trade was significant 120 years ago and only really went out of fashion in the 1930/40's and most commercial companies ceased trading in the 1970's. large numbers of cases were therefore produced as a result and consequently the quality varies dramatically. Many museums (in my opinion) and presumably due to lack of funds are not keeping their antique taxidermy collections in the manner that would best preserve them for future generations. This is a shame, but unavoidable currently. For the best examples of antique taxidermy to survive that era, it is best to observe the works by:
• Henry Ward
• Rowland Ward
• Peter Spicer
• James Hutchings (hardly ever affected by insect damage, unless the case has broken glass)
• James Gardner (Be warned, these cases do not survive well and is normally mothed to some degree)
Above are just my personal view of who created the best taxidermy cases, you may feel free to disagree. However during the above period, almost every small town in the UK has a resident taxidermist plying their trade as a side line to more conventional employment.
