Arthur Stannard Vernay
Arthur Stannard Vernay (11 May 1877 – 25 October 1960) was a noted English-born American art and antiques dealer, decorator, big-game hunter, and naturalist explorer. He sponsored and took part in expeditions across the world to collect biological specimens and cultural artifacts on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. The Vernay-Faunthorpe Hall of South Asian mammals in the AMNH is named after him.
Early life
Born in Weymouth, England, Vernay was born to Louisa Stannard and Thomas Crabb Avant. Shortly after his parents divorced, he emigrated to New York in August 1904 and changed his surname from Avant to Vernay. He found a job as an elevator operator at a furniture store known as A.J. Crawfords and after working there briefly, Vernay started his own shop in 1906, called Arthur S. Vernay, Inc. located at 1 East 45th Street, near Madison Avenue. He also had a shop in London at 217 Piccadilly in the late 1910s to 1920s. He sold antiques and decorative artworks to a number of important and influential New Yorkers including
Travel and hunting
In the 1920s, Vernay grew increasingly interested in game hunting and naturalist exploration. In 1921 he stayed at the Biligirirangans with
Bahamas
Expeditions
The major expeditions sponsored by Vernay include:
- Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition to India, 1923
- Vernay-Angola Expedition, 1925
- Vernay-Archbold Expedition to Madagascar, 1929
- Vernay Scientific Survey of the Eastern Ghats (with collectors V.S. LaPersonne and N.A. Baptista), 1929
- Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition for Field Museum, 1930–31[6][7]
- Vernay-Hopwood Upper Chindwin expedition, 1935 (S.F. Hopwood was the chief conservator of forests in Burma)
- Vernay-Cutting Burma Expedition, 1938-39 (with Charles Suydam Cutting)[8]
- Vernay Nyasaland Expedition, 1946
Eponymy
A large number of species and subspecies described from specimens collected on his expeditions have been named after him including the fish