Taxidermy display
Robert Duncan of Newcastle upon Tyne (fl.1837-1909)
Category
Natural History / Taxidermy
Date
circa 1897
Materials
Display case with taxidermy Bar-Tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and Whimbrel
Measurements
520 mm (H); 760 mm (W)
Order this imageCollection
Cragside, Northumberland
NT 1229450
Caption
Robert Duncan (1837-1909) specialised in immaculate taxidermy, using a primitive method dating from 18th century practitioners in France. Despite this his birds are beautifully precise, presented in a plain box display with no decoration to distract from the specimens. Unusually, he normally signed and dated his cases, like an artist, rather than attach a trade label. Cragside may have one of the largest extant collections of his work, including a pair of jays (1229429) and several other cases. Few taxidermists had time to shoot their own specimens, but these waders were collected and mounted by Duncan himself in 1897.
Summary
Stuffed Bar-Tailed Godwit, an Oystercatcher and a Whimbrel, in an ebonised display case with a glazed front, by Robert Duncan of Newcastle upon Tyne. Bears label reading: 'Oyster Catcher mature female BLH, Whimbrel ditto BLH, bar tailed godwit, immature T. North Coast September 1897. Shot and stuffed by R. Duncan.'
Provenance
Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 - 1987).
Marks and inscriptions
Oyster Catcher mature female BLH, Whimbrel ditto BLH, bar tailed godwit, immature T. North Coast September 1897. Shot and stuffed by R. Duncan
Makers and roles
Robert Duncan of Newcastle upon Tyne (fl.1837-1909), taxidermist