Later Life, Death and Decline of The Museum
Potter suffered a stroke in 1914, from which he never fully recovered, and died at the age of 83; he was buried in Bramber churchyard. His museum, which by that time contained about 10,000 specimens, was taken over by his daughter and grandson. The Victorian enthusiasm for stuffed animals had waned by the museum's later days, and it deflected claims of animal cruelty by displaying notices stating that all the animals had died naturally and that "in any case, they were all over 100 years old". The "Kittens' Wedding" scene, the last created by Potter in 1890, was shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2001 as part of "The Victorian Vision" exhibition.
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