The museum was founded in 1901 by Frederick John Horniman. Frederick had inherited his father's Horniman's Tea business, which by 1891 had become the world's biggest tea trading business.[5]
The proceeds from the business allowed Horniman to indulge his lifelong passion for collecting, and which after travelling extensively had some 30,000 items in his various collections, covering natural history, cultural artefacts and musical instruments.
In 1911, an additional building to the west of the main building, originally containing a lecture hall and library, was donated by Frederick Horniman's son Emslie Horniman. This was also designed by Townsend. A new extension, opened in 2002, was designed by Allies and Morrison.[6]
The Horniman specialises in anthropology, natural history and musical instruments[9] and has a collection of 350,000 objects. The ethnography and music collections have Designated status. One of its most famous exhibits is the large collection of stuffed animals. It also has an aquarium noted for its unique layout[clarify].
The Horniman housed some of the Benin Bronzes until 28 November 2022, when they were signed back unconditionally to Nigeria, from where the pieces were looted in 1897 by British troops.[10][11]
Main Entrance CUE Building Conservatory Café Shop Education Centre Hands On Base Natural History Gallery Balcony Gallery Environment Room
Horniman Highlight Objects 1Sand Painting, America 2 Walrus, Canada
World Gallery
Temporary Exhibition Gallery Music Gallery Gallery Square Security Reception from London Road
One Gallery closed for redevelopment
Horniman Highlight Objects 4 French Horn, England 5 Carlton Drum Kit, England 6 Torture Chair, Unknown 7Kali with Shiva Figure, India 8Benin Plaques, Nigeria
On the London Road wall of the main building is a neoclassical mosaic mural entitled Humanity in the House of Circumstance, designed by Robert Anning Bell and assembled by a group of young women over the course of 210 days. Composed of more than 117,000 individual tesserae, it measures 10 ft × 32 ft (3.0 m × 9.8 m) and symbolises personal aspirations and limitations.[15]
The three figures on the far left represent Art, Poetry and Music, standing by a doorway symbolising birth, while the armed figure represents Endurance. The two kneeling figures represent Love and Hope, while the central figure symbolises Humanity. Charity stands to the right bearing figs and wine, followed by white-haired Wisdom holding a staff, and a seated figure representing Meditation. Finally, a figure symbolising Resignation stands by the right-hand doorway, which represents death.[16]
The Horniman Museum contains the CUE (Centre for Understanding the Environment) building. This opened in 1996 and was designed by local architects Archetype using methods developed by Walter Segal. The building has a grass roof and was constructed from sustainable materials. It also incorporates passive ventilation.
Gallery
Museum main gallery
The CUE Building
The exterior of the conservatory
The interior of the conservatory
The bandstand from 1912
The bandstand viewed from below in July 2013
The Horniman totem pole
A preserved fruit bat showing how the skeleton fits inside its skin
A preserved turtle skeleton showing how the carapace connects with the rest of the skeleton
Canadian walrus
The Natural History Gallery with the overstuffed walrus replaced with a giraffe model in July 2013
