I love all taxidermy whether it's good or crappy. But my favorite kind of taxidermy is the anthropomorphic.

"I meow pronounce you husband and wife." Awww...

The Kitten Wedding (1898) was made by Victorian-era British taxidermist Walter Potter. It's adorable yet abominable. I mean, look at the way this weirdo squeezed oversized glass eyes into the kittens' stretched out sockets just to make them look cuter. It's enough to make you simultaneously squeal with delight and vomit in horror. The piece contains 18 kittens and is Potter's final large work. It is also his only piece in which the animals are clothed. It sold for $35,000 at auction in 2003. Over his lifetime, Potter created about 10,000 individual pieces and many of them were characters in his detail-rich, disturbing dioramas.

The Rabbits' Village School (1888) features a total of 48 rabbits (!) in a classroom setting.

See the scene in its full macabre glory here.

Kittens' Tea and Croquet Party (date unknown) includes 37 kittens, 17 who are enjoying tea and mouse tarts and 20 who are playing a nice game of croquet.

See a larger section of the piece here.

Potter is believed to have been influenced by taxidermist Hermann Ploucquet whose display at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London was wildly popular. Here is Ploucquet's Kittens at Tea:

This piece is believed to have been the inspiration for Potter's Kittens' Tea and Croquet Party.

All of this fantastic anthropomorphic taxidermy is reminding me that I need to make an appointment to see the famous taxidermied squirrel museum in the basement of the Cress Funeral Home here in Madison.