'Historic' animal collection sale

In pictures: Stuffed animals sale

A major collection of stuffed animals created in mid Wales when the art of taxidermy was at its Victorian peak has raised £35,544 at auction.

Saleroom Bonhams described it as the best and biggest auction of items from family firm Hutchings of Aberystwyth.

The company, which operated from the 1860s to 1942, is regarded by experts as one of the best the UK has seen.

Hutchings' speciality was large sea birds, and some of the 60 cases in the sale are tipped to fetch up to £1,600.

James Hutchings' sons and daughter followed him into the business in Aberystwyth, stuffing animals which had been shot to order.

If you were to try to put it into perspective, Hutchings is certainly in the top 10% and possibly in the top 5% Robert Bleasdale, Bonhams

The company gained a strong reputation at a time when taxidermy was highly popular.

Bonhams, based in New Bond Street, London, described Monday's "gentleman's library sale" as historic because of its quality and scale.

All the pieces have been built up by a private collector over 20 years, and according to Bonhams this is the only time they will all have been seen together in public.

The item with the highest estimate price of between £1,400 - £1,600 was a large horizontal case with 10 various sea birds.

'Resurgence of popularity'

Also in the collection are a pair of otters, a fox with foot raised and the other on a rabbit, and a badger peering down a hole containing a stoat.

Tastes in decor may have changed considerably since taxidermy's heyday, but according to the saleroom, it is undergoing "a resurgence of popularity".

Robert Bleasdale, a director of Bonhams, said it was rare for taxidermy to go to museums these days.

But there was a "hardcore of serious collectors" who would often look for particular animals to fill a gap in their collections or for items in the Hutchings style.

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Mr Bleasdale said: "If you were to try to put it into perspective, Hutchings is certainly in the top 10% and possibly in the top 5%."

Hutchings was distinguished by the cases, with square feet, rounded corners and gilded bars over black tape, with the backs painted blue, yellow and pink to represent a sky at sunset or sunrise.

The family had a shop in London which featured such striking exhibits as a bear holding a silver dish and a calf with two heads.

This sale also included a tiger's head by Peter Spicer of Leamington Spa, which is inscribed 1933.

The UK trade in items such as the tiger's head is strictly governed, and salerooms must be able to prove that the animal was killed before 1947.

While taxidermy peaked during the Victorian era, Mr Bleasdale said there had been something of a renaissance of interest.

"If you look at cutting edge art like Damien Hirst, it's what he's been doing," he said.