Project Spotlight: The Horniman Walrus Deinstallation

The Horniman Museum & Gardens is undertaking a major redevelopment of parts of its gardens and Natural History Gallery. The work, which is expected to be completed by early 2026, intends to widen the museum’s audience. This project, Nature + Love, will see the museum redevelop three key areas of its estate and make new connections between the outdoor spaces and interior gallery displays.

Deinstallation Process

In late July, Constantine’s technicians oversaw the deinstallation of the famous Horniman walrus, a signature object in the museum’s collection. Constantine supplied a four-person technical team and two gantries to raise the object from its display plinth in a tandem lift operation. It was agreed that the lifting slings be wrapped in Tyvek before moving the walrus. Ensuring there was no abrasion to the fragile surface of the 200kg (about 440.92 lb) object during the process. With this in place, the walrus was carefully lifted from its original plinth into a bespoke transport crate.

The museum requested that the sloping of its original display be recreated within the transport crate, so a bespoke crate was created for this purpose. The reasoning was to avoid any structural shift in the object during its period of storage. This extra height posed problems with one height restriction along the exit route through the museum, however, this was overcome with design and planning from our technical management team.

The walrus, five dioramas, and many additional specimens were relocated internally within the gallery in a large-scale form of three-dimensional Tetris. This was in preparation for the items to be treated with an Anoxia process which would take four weeks.

Once this process was completed, Constantine’s team continued to crate items for removal to external storage and transfer objects within the museum for temporary exhibition or conservation during the redevelopment project. Our technical staff overcame various complications, such as navigating historic display methods, with confidence and aptitude. The technicians’ wealth of experience in dealing with large-scale, complex items meant the work on site was completed within the time period requested by the museum.

About the Walrus

The Horniman’s iconic walrus has been in their collection for over 100 years. The walrus’ famously rotund appearance is due to the taxidermists working on it having never seen a walrus in its living state. Its gender also remains a mystery, with the size of its tusks suggesting it could either be a female or a junior male.

The walrus is originally from Canada, having been hunted and killed in Hudson Bay. It first arrived in England after crossing the Atlantic with the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition as part of a display of Canadian wildlife. This is where it is said to have been first seen by Frederick Horniman, who at the time was a tea trader with an extensive collection from his various travels, including everything from natural specimens to musical instruments. When he transitioned his collection to the status of a public institution in 1902, and the Horniman Museum first opened its doors, the walrus quickly became a visitor favourite.

It was not until 2013 that the walrus moved again, taking a trip to the seaside to feature in the Turner Contemporary, Margate, and the Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing exhibition. The walrus will remain in storage until the completion of the Nature + Love project, which is due to be in 2026.

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