A leopard skin rug by the world famous taxidermist Rowland Ward. Known for his excellent work, this leopard skin rug exemplifies the quality of his trade with a realistic study of the leopard's head, all finished to the highest standard. Trade label to the underside for 1920-1930.  

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.

Condition: some slight restoration to the head, losses to the black hessian lining to the underside (see photo).

Dimensions: 185cm head to tail, 136cm across