Portrait of Walter Percy Sladen

Walter Percy Sladen (1849–1900), known as Percy, was a well-known Victorian biologist. He specialised in the study of echinoderms. Starfish, sea urchins and other similar species are all echinoderms.

Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, leader of the voyage of HMS Challenger (1872–6), chose Sladen to describe the starfish specimens collected during the voyage. Sladen wrote nearly 1,000 pages describing the starfish and made 118 illustrations. The voyage laid the foundations for modern oceanography.

Sladen gathered a large collection of specimens during his life. Upon his death, his wife, Constance Sladen, donated his collection to RAMM. It is the largest and most comprehensive echinoderm collection outside the Natural History Museum, London. You can find out more about Percy and Constance Sladen on RAMM’s collections site.

Visual description: Percy Sladen is depicted in a seated, three-quarter-length portrait. He is a middle-aged man with thinning red hair and a beard. He is wearing a brown country suit with a white shirt and tie. The suit is covered by a large black overcoat trimmed with thick fur. A gold pocket watch chain is just visible.

In his right hand, he is holding a pair of gloves, while his left is patting a dog who has its paws in his lap. The blue chair is partially seen to the left, and the background is a faux woodland scene.