Beschreibung:

W. WoodehouseThe Taxidermist Oil on canvas Signed and dated 1888 70cm.; 27½ins high by 60cm.; 23ins wideWilliam Woodhouse (1857-1939) The well-known Lancastrian painter William Woodhouse lived close to the small town of Carnforth and was friendly with the celebrated local taxidermist Henry Murray. Because of this connection it has sometimes been assumed that this is a portrait of Murray. However Jeff Dent whose forthcoming book on Murray is to be published soon has done considerable research on the image and has assembled a considerable body of evidence that indicates that it is in fact a portrait of George Mussell (1827-1909) a taxidermist who operated in Middlesborough during the last half of the nineteenth century.Ade Craddock initially contacted us out of the blue saying he had some items he thought we may be interested in including in one of our Natural History sales. As chance would have it Errol and I were only an hours drive away at the time so decided to visit straight away. Little did we realise what awaited us within his farmhouse. Upon entering it was clear we were looking at a remarkable collection and that was just in the hall. With excitement building we were ushered into |his room|. Not a modest room by any means and one absolutely covered from floor to ceiling with fantastic taxidermy from the golden age of natural history. The big cat material immediately drew ones eyes as Mr Craddock unbeknown to any of our wide network of collectors and dealers had amassed one of the finest collections we had ever seen. As his story unfolded and we flitted from item to item Ade explained how his father had collected taxidermy and antique big game trophies and he had just continued acquiring pieces throughout his life. A few of the items were known to us many from years ago and nobody had known where they had ended up; well we had just found out! Just as exciting were the other pieces much of the collection sourced at a time when little regard was paid to Leopard heads or Tiger skin rugs. His long involvement with the subject and innate eye for quality shone through and made it a real pleasure dealing with Ade. Most collections have some areas that are weaker than others but what we came to realise was that even the so called lesser items were in their own way top rate. A pair of horns on a shield might at first sight seem just that - a pair of horns on a shield! But this wasnt the case with Ade Craddocks material. Each item could stand alone as a particularly fine or unusual piece; some had been collected by celebrated hunters of the nineteenth century or early years of the twentieth and almost all were on shields provided by the great natural history suppliers of the era: Rowland Ward the van Ingen brothers Gerrards or Theobald of Mysore. The scale of the collection was breathtaking. This is a highly unusual collection with such a strong focus on big game and that very specific era of time from the late nineteenth century to the years before the Second World War. This was a time when our connection with wildlife was perhaps closer than it is today although our attitudes were displayed in a very different ways. Some people may not like some of the items but they are antiques and perhaps best viewed as such - cultural artefacts from a different age