Taxidermy: A Victorian Cased Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), an early case by W. Shopland, Naturalist &
Taxidermy: A Victorian Cased Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), an early case by W. Shopland, Naturalist & Taxidermist, Ashcombe, Thurlow Road, Torquay, a full mount adult stood within a simulated grotto, amidst a natural setting of tall grasses, ferns and fauna, enclosed within a period ebonised single-glass display case, 62cm by 27cm by 88cm, bearing an early trade label to the verso, later known as H.T. Shopland of 40 Higher Union Street, Torquay, a distinctive "house style" was used and perfected by Shopland taxidermists in the use of mica or crushed glass to simulate the sparkle of granite within their displays, this process would have been carried out while the paint was still wet to good effect