My name is Dorne Lovegrove, and The Velvet Drawing Room began as a practical solution to a family problem: my adult children have absolutely no interest in my Victorian taxidermy collection. I worried they’d sell it all on eBay the moment I died — and I promised to haunt them if they did.
What started as an attempt to leave them idiot‑proof notes has grown into something far larger: a place to explore the history, culture, and craftsmanship of Victorian taxidermy, and the extraordinary people who shaped it.
Although I collect Victorian taxidermy cases, I am firmly opposed to killing animals for taxidermy today — especially for “sport” or “adventure.” It is unnecessary, unethical, and indefensible. The Victorian industry was a product of its time: a world before climate change, before habitat destruction, before global markets, and before a shared moral conscience about wildlife. They did not know what we know now.
But we do know
And with that knowledge comes responsibility — to preserve what survives and to prevent further destruction.
Stories in Context
Alongside the established reference works by authors such as Frost and Morris, which have given me endless pleasure over the years, I wanted to tell a different kind of story: one about context. Taxidermy is often misunderstood by everyone except enthusiasts and scholars.
I wanted to explore not only the objects themselves, but the lives of the makers, the culture they lived in, and the world that shaped their craft.
Discovery of Digital
Access to newly digitised historical records — census entries, birth and marriage certificates, old newspapers, court documents — has opened doors into the lives of Victorian taxidermists and pioneering naturalists.
These fragments have allowed me to piece together stories that have been forgotten for more than a century.
It’s always a case of “jigsaw puzzle” with all research, which I undertake in great detail.
A New Perspective
Some of the stories I’ve uncovered have never been told before. They offer a fresh perspective on the usual narrative — and I can only imagine what some of the people involved would say about being rediscovered in this way.
The Velvet Drawing Room is my attempt to bring these stories to light, to celebrate the craftsmanship of the past, and to share the remarkable heritage the Victorians left behind.
Look through the glass
Stay for the stories
The Culture, Curiosity, and Collecting Habits of 19th‑Century Britain
From the private Wunderkammers and Cabinets of Curiosities of the 1600s to the immense attractions of the World Expos of the 1800s and the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Victorian world was built on wonder.
Here you’ll explore the earliest menageries, the birth of the modern zoo and the circus, and the indelible influence of Audubon, Darwin, and Gould. Follow the journeys of colonial explorers and hunters as they travelled the globe in sailing ships, and step inside the Victorian country houses of the gentlemen collectors who shaped the era’s tastes.
Featuring
* Jamrach, Bostock & Wombwell, & Stephen Polito
* Cabinets of Curiosities
* Victorian Naturalists & Explorers
* Menagerie, Zoo & Circus
* The Gentlemen Collectors
* Rothschild
* Vauncey Harpur-Crewe & Calke Abbey
Behind the Glass
The Makers and Their Masterpieces
Taxidermy is more than art. Behind every Victorian mount lies a story. In truth, it holds two stories: one of how the animal came to be behind the glass, and another of the maker whose hands shaped it. Many of those makers’ stories have never been heard before.
Here you can discover the leading Victorian taxidermy firms who forged new movements and sparked extraordinary crazes.
Explore the gorgeous hand‑blown glass domes, the distinctive styles of individual makers’ cases, and the taxidermists’ labels — small works of art in their own right.
Featuring
* Rowland Ward, London
* Peter Spicer of Leamington
* Walter Burton of Wardour St
* James Gardner of Oxford St
* Edward Gerrard Camden Town
* Henry Murray of Carnforth
* The Burtons of Wardour Street
The Modern Revival and Enduring Influence of Victorian Craftsmanship
After taxidermy’s divorce from social fashion in the mid‑1900s, we’ve fallen in love with it again. Victorian taxidermy now inspires collectors, artists, museums, and conservators around the world.
The fashion world has embraced it — from Alexander McQueen to Schiaparelli and Dior. Interior designers have too, drawn to its high‑class, dramatic presence and its ability to transform a room. Luxury websites now serve as the shop windows for the limited number of surviving Victorian cases, while auction houses are alive with global bidders chasing the ultimate find.
Featuring
* How to find and buy taxidermy
* Auction highlights
* Contemporary artists
* Taxidermy on the catwalk
* Animal Replicas
Read the latest news
ENTER THE VELVET DRAWING ROOM.
LOOK THROUGH THE GLASS.
STAY FOR THE STORIES.
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AllA.J. Harris of EnfieldAuction HighlightsBaron Lionel Walter RothschildDownloadsE.F. Spicer of BirminghamEdward BoothEdward GerrardExhibitions and World ExposHenry James Burton & SonHenry MurrayHutchings AberystwythJames GardnerLedot of ParisMenagerie, Zoo, CircusModern Taxidermy MakersPeter Spicer of LeamingtonPratt of BrightonRowland WardSir John Henry Greville SmythTaxidermy TodayThe Gentlemen CollectorsThe Victorian WorldThomas Henry Bowyer-BowerToday's Taxidermy ExpertsVauncey Harpur CreweVictorian Culture & SocietyVictorian NaturalistsVictorian TaxidermistsWalter Burton FZS
