Anyone lucky enough to have been to the Hunterian Museum may have come across George Stubb's painting of a moose entitled, The Duke of Richmond’s First Bull Moose. Which begs the question: just how many mooses (moose? meese?) did Charlie have? Was he just being pompous and assuming he'd be acquiring more with a painting title like that?Like any exotic animal from far-away lands, moose were a highly-prized object for the English nobleman's menagerie. When General Guy Carlton sent the Duke of Richmond a moose from Canada the anatomist, William Hunter called on the artist George Stubbs for a favor. Hunter's main interest was in humans but he seemed to have some natural scientific curiosity with the moose and its relationship to the elk indigenous to the British Isles. He commissioned Stubbs to paint Richmond's new moose for study. Stubbs included mature moose antlers in the painting since Richmond's did not have them. The painting goes to show just how much wasn't known about moose. Stubbs painted it in a rocky craggy mountain landscape, not knowing the specific habitat.
Three years later Hunter got word that a second moose was now in Richmond's possession. This time he grabbed some friends and his painting and went to see this second bull moose in person. Comparing the two moose caused him to make a second commission with Stubbs, a drawing entitled The Duke of Richmond’s Second Bull Moose.
One moose sounds to me like it would be enough! Two moose is a tad selfish. I can't tell you if Richmond took any more antlered wards in but I have a feeling he may have stopped at two (males, at least), just because his friend Hunter would have come along, dragging Stubbs behind, for yet another photo op with the new moose in town.