Obaysch, the Hippopotamus, London Zoo

Salted paper print of Obaysch, the Hippopotamus, photographed lying down with eyes closed. Water in foreground. Behind the bars to the Hippopotamus House stand observers. Set of 43 photographs of Zoo animals. Montizón, the younger son of the pretender to the Spanish throne, produced over forty different studies of animals at London Zoo during the 1850s. The hippopotamus had been presented by the Viceroy of Egypt to the British Consul in 1850. At London Zoo he became an instant visitor attraction.