The James Harrison Collection comprises over 200 lots of cased and freemount birds dating from the late Victorian era to the middle of the 20th century. The collection includes rare and unusual examples, such as a passenger pigeon and a kiwi, as well as mounts by the likes of Rowland Ward, James Gardner, Charles Kirk and George Bristow.
James Maurice Harrison (1892-1971) was an ornithologist and one of the last great bird collectors, who gathered large numbers of specimens to study moult patterns, distribution, geographical and colour variation within and between species. A GP by profession, Harrison filled his family home and Doctor's Surgery, Bowerwood House in Kent, with his extraordinary collection.