Walter Percy Sladen

Portrait of (Walter) Percy Sladen after the artist Henry Tanworth Wells RA, c.1900. The painting depicts Sladen in a seated, three quarter length portrait; he wears a brown country suit with white shirt and tie, with a large black overcoat trimmed with thick fur. A gold watch chain is also visible. In his right hand he holds a pair of gloves and his left hand is patting a dog seen seated beside him. The blue chair in which he sits is just seen to the left and the whole is set against a faux woodland scene.

Sladen was a well-known Victorian biologist, and took a great interest in echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins and other similar species). Sladen travelled across Europe studying his life interests, later settling in Devon. He amassed a large collection of specimens which his wife, Constance Sladen, donated to RAMM. His study was recreated in the museum and it is the largest collection of echinoderms outside the Natural History Museum, London.