Saggerson Natural History
The Making of a Modern Naturalist
Jon Saggerson.
A Modern Naturalist
Jon Saggerson’s path to becoming a modern naturalist began in his late teens. While most of his peers were still deciding what to do with their lives, he was already apprenticed to Colin Dunton, one of Britain’s finest modern taxidermists, now retired but long regarded for his meticulous craftsmanship. Dunton’s workshop, not far from Jon’s childhood home in Hertfordshire, UK, became the crucible in which a lifelong fascination with natural history took shape.
Early Training
Jon’s early training in taxidermy was only one strand of a broader, deeply rooted curiosity. Jon went on to earn a degree in Agricultural Management, grounding his practical skills in a wider understanding of ecology, land use, and animal biology.
Taxidermy Today
Today he runs a UK based specialist business in taxidermy, and skull and skeleton cleaning – Saggerson Natural History a discipline that demands both scientific precision and an artist’s eye for structure.
His customers are world-wide, ranging from taxidermy practitioners and collectors to modern day hunters.
Alongside this professional life and business, Jon is a Rowland Ward enthusiast, and has built a personal collection of big‑game trophies and natural history specimens over a number of years. It is his relationship with the legacy of Rowland Ward that elevates him from collector to custodian.
A Living Link to the Last Generation of Ward’s Craftsmen
Jon was and still is uniquely connected to the final generation of taxidermists who worked for Rowland Ward before the taxidermy company closed its doors at Crawley Road in Wood Green, London in 1976. Through friendships and professional relationships with former employees of Rowland Ward he has absorbed first‑hand accounts of the firm’s final decades.
The Lions Beneath The Petunias
The experiences and stories that these colleagues share are the last living memories of a company that once defined the global standard for big‑game taxidermy, outfitted royal expeditions, and published The Sportsman’s Handbook, the definitive field guide for generations of hunters and naturalists.
Their stories, techniques, and recollections form an oral history that is rapidly disappearing.
European Green Woodpecker (Picus Viridis). Skull with sclerotic ring of the eyes, hyoid bones of the tongue, with keratin beak sheaths preserved.
photo copyright: Jon Saggerson
Wild boar tusks – France. Mounted in Jon’s workshop.
photo copyright: Jon Saggerson
An “ivorine” plaque by Jon Saggerson in the style of the best of the Victorian examples, especially by Rowland Ward
photo copyright: Jon Saggerson
Bird skulls from the private collection of Jon Saggerson
photo copyright: Jon Saggerson
The skull of a lamb born with a birth defect (Cyclops effect)
photo copyright: Jon Saggerson
A double-headed calf born with a birth defect (Siamese effect) prepared by Jon Saggerson
photo copyright: Jon Saggerson
This article is part of the Taxidermy Today section. Explore more research here →
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