Other Material

Artefacts

Darwin Vasculum

Artefacts held by the Linnean Society include such treasures as Charles Darwin's vasculum, Robert Brown's microscope, the skin of a python killed by Alfred Russell Wallace and (what is purported to be) the pencil case of Carl Linnaeus.

Portraits

Linnaeus

On the walls of the Society’s rooms hang many impressive portraits commemorating past Presidents and other noted naturalists. Among these are several portraits of Linnaeus at different stages of his life.

In the Meeting Room hang portraits of such luminaries as Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Robert Brown, William Jackson Hooker, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Miles Berkeley, John Lubbock and George Bentham. Elsewhere are portraits of Sir James Edward Smith, Daniel Solander, Sir Joseph Banks, and Georg Dionysius Ehret.

Medallions and Seals

Medallion

Commemorative portrait medallions include those of Linnaeus, Darwin, Wallace and J D Hooker. The Society also holds a collection of seals belonging to Smith, Brown, J D Hooker and Jonas Dryander.

Sculpture

Linnaeus

The Meeting Room and Library contain the marble busts of Sir James Edward Smith, William Sharp MacLeay, Charles Hatchett, Robert Brown and Thomas Bell.

Among the plaster busts in the Library are those of John Joseph Bennett, Edward Stanley, and James Murie. A marble bust of Sir Joseph Banks is on long-term loan to the British Museum for display in the Enlightenment Gallery.

A bronze sculpture of Linnaeus as a young man was commissioned by the Society in 2007 to mark the 300th anniversary of Linnaeus’ birth, from the zoologist and sculptor Anthony Smith.