Hello, I’m a big Kate Mosse fan and love gothic literary thrillers, so I was thrilled to see her current book The Taxidermist’s Daughter was inspired by her childhood visits to The Walter Potter Museum.
In Death there can be Beauty
On an overseas trip to the UK many years ago, David and I visited Jamaica Inn in Cornwall. Not only did we get lost on the moors (another blog post altogether) but we were fortunate to discover Mr Potter’s Museum of Curiosities before it was dismantled. I found the museum incredibly fascinating and longed for another chance to examine it, so I was saddened to hear in 2003 that such a fine collection of Victorian-Edwardian whimsy was lost forever when it was dismantled and sold at auction. 
Some might find the taxidermy displays macabre, but I loved the surreal cuteness of the animals in dioramas such as The Death and Burial of Cock Robin (which took Mr Potter seven years to complete and included 98 species of British birds along with a weeping robin widow and a grave-digging owl); his rabbit school with rabbits writing on slates; and kitten tea parties. 
Intricate details featured on all of his work – including frilly knickers on kittens. There were also many other interesting and strange curios, enough to spend hours browsing. 
Mr Potter’s Museum of Curiosities began life in Bramber, Sussex, England. 
As a teenager, Walter Potter’s fascination with taxidermy started when he attempted to preserve the life of his pet canary. The Death and Burial of Cock Robin was a massive success. 
So many people were keen to witness his tableaus that a special platform had to be built at Bramber train station to accommodate the hordes of tourists arriving to view it. 
After Mr Potter’s death at 82, his daughter and grandson took over the business. Public taste in taxidermy had now waned and the displays were considered in poor taste.
Kitten with two faces
Rabbit School
The collection, numbering 10, 000 specimens, was moved around to Brighton, Ardundel and then to the owners of the famous Jamaica Inn in Cornwall where visitors come from around the world to experience Daphne du Maurier territory first hand. 
Sadly, when the museum finally went to auction, a one-million pound bid by Damien Hirst to keep the collection intact was rejected, which meant various pieces were sold separately. Hirst wrote a piece for the Guardian HERE called, Mr Potter, Stuffed Rats and Me.
Kate Mosse and Crow
There is also another interesting link HERE to a Taxidermy article about Walter Potter. 
And a link HERE with Kate Mosse talking about her fascination with Walter Potter and his museum.
Another link HERE is a website to a book about Walter Potter which contains lots of fascinating articles.
And a recent interview with Kate Mosse from the Independent where she discusses the Landscape of her Imagination HERE
Kate at Booth Museum of Natural History
With all the excitement of a new Kate Mosse book, I thought it was a good chance to publish the notes I took when she spoke at Sydney Writers Festival in 2013. I’d had the best of intentions to put them on my blog at the time, but became so busy with writing Currawong Manor that I never got a chance. I shall post that blog later in the week so I do hope you return. Please share this post with your social online friends if you feel they would be interested. Thank you for popping in. Love and Light, Josephine xx
A short film on Potter’s collection that may be of interest.
Astonishing. And how cool that you actually saw it, TP. Bizarre, macabre, great stuff for the imagination! xx
Jen, I feel so fortunate to have seen it, but what a blow that it was dismantled. It was just so eccentric and so very British. Although there was a real feeling of death in the rooms with all the dead animals it was fascinating. I could have spent weeks there. Hope all is well in your world Jen. Thanks for visiting. xx
A very interested article. I enjoyed the little photos too. I will look out for Kate Mosse’s book. I too have seen Jamacia Inn, but I was one of the last to sleep there. Not only that but in the farm house opposite, where his family had been the owners of Jamacia Inn, He too, had been but had finally sold it. He told us so many old tales. I was agog with interest.
I will ho back and reread all that has been writte. Thank agsin for such interesting reading
Hello Carole, what a fabulous experience to have slept at Jamaica Inn. We didn’t stay the night there (although we nearly spent the night on the foggy moors). I love Cornwall and would move there if I could. I would love to have heard some of the old tales. I hope you wrote them down! Take Care and I shall post the second instalment to my Kate Mosse post when I get a chance this weekend. Happy reading. xx