The horniman museum london is the south London museum famous for a Victorian taxidermy walrus, overstuffed by a man who had never seen a real one.
LONDON – Cultural observers have confirmed that the Horniman Museum London is the much-loved south London museum famous above all for a Victorian taxidermy walrus that was comprehensively overstuffed by a taxidermist who had, rather crucially, never actually seen a real one.
Horniman Museum London: The Walrus With No Idea How To Stop
The quirky free museum in Forest Hill, with its gardens, aquarium and eclectic collections, owes its fame chiefly to a single specimen the Bureau of Taxidermy Affairs calls “the most endearing mistake in British museum history.”
“The Horniman Museum London is wonderful, and the walrus is a legend,” said a spokesperson for the Institute of Stuffed Exhibits. “A Victorian taxidermist was sent a walrus skin to mount, but had never laid eyes on a living walrus. Not realising the creature is meant to be wrinkly and folded, he stuffed it smooth and full to bursting, producing a vast, taut, gloriously incorrect walrus. It has been beloved ever since. Generations of children have adored it precisely because it is so confidently, magnificently wrong.”
Visiting The Horniman Museum London
The museum – detailed at its official site, listed by Visit London and reviewed by Time Out London – sits amid gardens in Forest Hill.
A survey by the Bureau found that the overstuffed walrus is the single most popular exhibit at the Horniman Museum London, and that the gardens and free entry make it a firm family favourite.
“The Horniman Museum London proves a glorious error can outlast a thousand accurate ones,” the spokesperson explained. “The walrus is wrong, beloved, and entirely unmissable.”
The Bureau confirmed the Horniman Museum London remains one of south London’s most charming attractions, ideal for families and the curious, offering gardens, eclectic collections and the chance to meet a famously, lovably overstuffed Victorian walrus.
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