The Legacy of Edward Gerrard and Sons
Edward Gerrard and Sons giants of the Victorian Taxidermy era in Britain.
Edward Gerrard and Sons, giants of the Victorian Taxidermy era, dominated the British Taxidermy landscape from 1850-1965. Museum work. Natural History dealers. Model Makers.
This article is about the overview of the legacy of Edward Gerrard and includes references to:
- the origins of the Edward Gerrard and Sons business
- Edward Gerrard and Sons work for museums
- the Victorian Showpiece Era of Big Game
- the era of Empire expansion
- the change in focus of Edward Gerrard and Sons business in the 1900s
- a timeline of Edward Gerrard and Sons business
And it links to article “The History of Edward Gerrard and Sons”
The Victorian Hey-Day of Natural History
For over a hundred years the firm of Edward Gerrard & Sons produced taxidermy for museums as well as for high society clients including Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild and The Prince of Wales. The Edward Gerrard & Sons company was at the centre of the network of leading 19th century naturalists including with Rowland Ward in Piccadilly, London and they also served high profile London department stores, including the Army and Navy Stores, and high-end private clients.
Although the firm of Edward Gerrard & Sons was a family business, it was much more than that.
Edward Gerrard Senior had been at the epicentre of the world of Victorian naturalists, dealers, gentlemen collectors, museum officials and influencers in the Victorian hey day of taxidermy when the discovery of natural history as a subject and as science was at its peak.
Edward Gerrard and Sons were prolific in their output, and whilst their speciality was work for museums, they also did the usual range of taxidermy that was popular amongst the hunting classes of Britain; the Fox heads, the Badgers and Otters and Wild Boar, but perhaps they are more known for their prolific output of big game, especially the trophy heads. Think of Gazelle, Dik-Dik, Antelope, Zebra, Bison and the like – usually brought in by big game hunters and the rich people of the upper classes.
The main competitor of Gerrard in the latter part of the 19th Century was Rowland Ward, and Gerrard’s also had a working relationship with Ward, exchanging work when the other could not meet demand or when one had better tools and capabilities (like the tools needed to finish off skins being made into rugs). Gerrard also took work (as did Wards) for department stores and sales outlets. The Army and Navy Stores in London sent sometimes their customer commissions to Gerrards who did the taxidermy, mounted and cased it, and sent it back applying the store’s own label.
Adaptation of the Gerrard Business in the early 20th Century
During the last half of the 19th century, in the hey day of Victorian taxidermy, Gerrards connected the major players in the world of Natural History and acted as a dealer and advisor.
In the last quarter of the 19th Century Edward Gerrard also responded to the Victorian fashion for animal furniture. They were as adept and active in preparing this furniture and decorative items for the Victorian parlours and country houses, just as Rowland Ward did, but Gerrards were cheaper than Wards.
In the early 20th century the firm adapted to make models for schools and universities. They diversified as Furriers, and in response to changing markets later created a hire business for theatre and film in the 1940s to 1960s.
Model making became one of Gerrard’s fortés.
After the end of WW1 they diversified their business with osteology and later for model making, supplying schools and universities with educational materials. This element of the business was not insignificant and today you do see models and osteology examples from this era of the earlier 20th Century come up at auction. There is information on the extent of the model making business in P.A. Morris’s book “A History of Taxidermy: Art, Science and Bad Taste” first published in 2010.
This advert in Nature Magazine, dated 1918, shows a typical offer for their Osteology.
This advert in Discovery Magazine, dated 1932, for Gerrard’s Model Making business. Also interesting to note the specimens supply, typically of Frogs and Insects, for educational purposes. (I wonder where they got the Frogs from?! Did they deliberately breed them for this purpose, I wonder, or did they know someone who did?)
The Origins of the Business
It all starts for the company of Edward Gerrard sometime around 1850, probably 1853 after the Great Exhibition of 1851 where taxidermy was unveiled as art, after being categorised previously as being for science.
The business survived five generations, from 1853 up to Edward Gerrard Senior’s Great Grandsons and the closure of the business in 1965-7.
The Great Exhibition 1851
The sheer success of the Great Exhibition and for some of Gerrard’s contemporaries like Bartlett of Camden Town, and Hancock of Newcastle exhibited there, while Edward Gerrard Senior was in service at the British Museum under Dr. Gray, but his son Edward Gerrard Junior (born 1842) at the age of 14yrs was almost ready to start and drive a commercial business, under the tutilege of his father, under the name of Edward Gerrard & Son.
The British Museum
The British Museum played a big role in the landscape of the Gerrards. It was Edward Gerrard Senior’s employer in parallel with his private role as a dealer with his dominant connections in the world of Victorian natural history.
The Zoological Society
The Zoological Society of London also played a big part in their life since Gerrard Senior already had strong connections there since the 1830s in his early career.
1850s – 1870s
Edward Gerrard’s work is found in major British museums
Gerrard and his masterpieces: global distribution from 61 College Place
Gerrard’s strongest and longest‑running relationships were with British museums, especially those connected to the Empire’s scientific and educational networks, but his work was sent world-wide including to Canada, New Zealand, the USA, France, Belgium and Australia
British Museum (Natural History). Era: 1850s–1930s
This was Gerrard’s single most important client.
London Zoo (ZSL) – Regent’s Park. Era: 1850s–1950s
The Zoo was not a “client” but a supplier, yet many mounts were commissioned because of Zoo mortality.
Horniman Museum – Forest Hill. Era: 1890s–1930s
Displays showing evolution including of wolf to dog
Royal College of Surgeons (Hunterian Museum). Era: 1880s–1930s
Anatomical preparations, Skeletons, Comparative anatomy specimens
Bristol Museum. Era: 1890s–1930s
Edinburgh (National Museum of Scotland). Era: 1880s–1920s
Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Era: 1860s–1900s
Manchester Museum. Era: 1880s–1930s
Several bird mounts are labelled “E. Gerrard & Sons”. Museum records confirm purchases.
Liverpool World Museum. Era: 1880s–1920s
Gerrard mounts appear in their zoological collections. Some are labelled; others are listed in acquisition records.
Cambridge University Museum of Zoology. Era: 1860s- 1905
Photo above: Cambridge University Museum of Zoology where Edward Gerrard provided specimens as a dealer, bought from explorers, the ZSL, and scientists between 1867 – 1905.
Including:
Dasyrus, Manatee, Chimpanzee, Genet and Ocelot, Leopard, Rhinoceros, Walrus, Marmot and Porpoise skulls obtained at the auction of Sir W. Jardine. Two elephants feet which died at the ZSL were kept and put into maceration; Seals and Monkeys from Stephen Island, New Zealand.
(information from: CALENDAR OF THE HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE 1819 TO 1911 by Dr. L.C. Rookmaaker Archivist and Historian of the Museum)
1850s – 1880s
Victorian Showpiece Era of Big Game
Dominant specimens prepared by Gerrard
These were the mounts that made Gerrard a household name among museums
- Lions, tigers, leopards
- Bears
- Large antelope (eland, kudu, sable)
- Zebras
- Giraffes (occasional)
- Primates (gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons)
- Large birds (ostrich, condor, eagle)
Why:
- London Zoo was expanding rapidly
- Victorian museums wanted dramatic, full‑body mounts
- Colonial commissioning of trophy mounts
- Gerrard’s early reputation was built on large, technically difficult animals
1880s – 1890s
Scientific Natural History & Empire Expansion
Animal Furniture
Dominant specimens:
These were used in the British Museum’s expanding zoological galleries and to satisfy the trend for Zoomorphic Furniture
- Exotic mammals from Africa and India
- Birds of paradise
- Hornbills, toucans, parrots
- Small carnivores (civets, genets, mongooses)
- Reptiles (snakes, crocodiles)
- Fish (taxidermy and casts)
- Bears, Elephant parts, Zebra skins, Tusks and the like
Why:
- British Museum (Natural History) expanding its zoological collections
- Empire’s networks brought in new species
- Scientific classification demanded accurate, lifelike mounts
- Gerrard became a go‑to supplier for museums worldwide
- Satisfying demand for fashion furniture made from animal parts
1900-1920s
Smaller Specimens
Dominant specimens:
- Songbirds
- Small mammals (squirrels, bats, rodents)
- Domestic pets (cats, dogs)
- Reptiles and amphibians
- Skeleton preparation
Why:
- Decline in demand for huge trophy mounts
- Rise of scientific study skins and skeletal collections
- Gerrard’s founder dies in 1910; next generation shifts focus
- Growing interest in comparative anatomy
1920s-1930s
The Diorama Era in Museums
Dominant specimens:
These were used in the new “habitat group” displays.
- Birds (especially exotic species)
- Small mammals
- Skeletons and articulated bones
- Diorama groups (foxes, badgers, otters, birds of prey)
Why:
- Museums modernised displays with habitat dioramas
- Taxidermy became more artistic and ecological
- Gerrard supplied both mounts and props (branches, rocks, groundwork)
1940s-1950s
Film, Theatre, Prop Work
Dominant specimens:
- Fake animals for film
- Skeletons
- Oddities and curiosities
- Repaired or repurposed older mounts
- Birds and small mammals for educational displays
Why:
- WWII disrupted museum collecting
- Post‑war austerity reduced scientific commissions
- Film industry boomed
- Gerrard became a prop supplier
- Hitchcock filmed The Man Who Knew Too Much (1955) in the workshop and yard
1960s
Final years and decline
Dominant specimens:
- Skeletons
- Repairs
- Clearance of old stock
- Prop animals
Why:
- Public taste shifted away from taxidermy
- Museums stopped acquiring large mounts
- Camden Council redevelopment forced closure
After the final years Taxidermy’s perception has changed
The demand for taxidermy significantly drops after the 1960’s (and before this), but taxidermy’s position on the social scene is not completely abandoned.
This article written in The Scotsman in 1965 features Edward Gerrard and Sons as well as Rowland Ward, and other minor taxidermists and presents it as still having appeal, but with a new role of decoration and obligatory artwork, especially in pubs and restaurants.
It’s still present in pubs and restaurants today, but it has much more cachet. It is seen as being much more chic and desirable than it was in the 1960’s.
Today the good stuff is sought after. It is collected by people looking for something different; those who want to make a statement.
Edward Gerrard and Sons and their contemporaries of the Victorian Era own this legacy.
Hyena by Edward Gerrard
Wolf Head 1930s part of a display of the evolution of dogs at the Horniman Museum
Mr Ted Gerrard in the Gerrard and Sons Workshop dated circa 1950
Hyena Head
Leopard Head 1930s
A Chaffinch circa 1930
This article is part of the Victorian Taxidermists – Edward Gerrard hub. Back to Edward Gerrard →
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