Museum hunt for large polar bear

The stuffed bear was a favourite with the Victorian public

A museum has launched a search to recover a huge stuffed polar bear which has not been seen for nearly 60 years.

For decades the whereabouts of the bear has intrigued staff at the Horniman Museum in south-east London.

It was the centrepiece of the museum's natural history gallery when it opened in 1901 until it was sold to New Cross dealer T Allen in 1948.

Staff are keen to get in touch with descendents of Mr Allen who may know of the fate of the Horniman Polar Bear.

Victorian curiosity

The stuffed polar bear, a highly-prized curiosity during the Victorian era, was acquired in 1886 by tea trader Frederick Horniman, who later placed it in his museum.

There had been a rumour the bear had been lent to the Selfridges department store for a flamboyant Christmas window display.

Museum director Janet Vitmayer said: "It was one of the largest animals on display and very popular with visitors until it was taken off display in the 1940s."

The bear hunt was prompted by two artists, Mark Wilson Bryndis Snaebjornsdottir, who had embarked on a project to photograph every taxidermied polar bear in the UK.

During their research on the fate of the polar bear at the museum in Forest Hill, they came across forgotten documents relating to the sale of the exhibit.

The photographs of all 34 stuffed polar bears tracked down by the artists will form part of the museum's Great White Bear exhibition from 21 October.