A very rare elephant foot tray. Fashioned from the sole or pad of an elephant’s foot, it is very likely to have been made by the famous taxidermist Rowland Ward. Rowland Ward was a British taxidermist and founder of the firm Rowland Ward Limited of Piccadilly, London. The company specialised in and was renowned for its taxidermy work on birds and big-game trophies. His father, Edwin H. Ward, was also a very well-known taxidermist in his day and set up a taxidermy shop in London in 1857 and received a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1870. Other distantly related Ward family members had taxidermy-related businesses as far away as New York and Australia. Edwin H. Ward had two sons, Edwin Jr. and James Rowland (the taxidermist of this leopard skin rug). Both were trained in their father's business and were successful on their own, mounting heads for the British royal family as well the empress of Austria, among others.

This elephant foot tray has been polished and mounted with a silver rim and a silver cartouche to the centre, ready for engraving if the owner so wished. Made around the end of the 19th century when big-game hunting was popular, it is an extremely well crafted item, popular amongst wunderkammer collectors of the weird and the wonderful from bygone eras.

Elephants are obviously highly protected but as this item predates 1947 it can be sold within the the UK without the need for further paperwork (please refer to our FAQ page for further clarifications)

Condition: some slight warping to the tray, the silver rim fits correctly but can sometimes come away from the nail, possibly due to shrinkage

Dimensions: 38cm deep, 34cm wide, 9cm high