A series of illustrations from a production of Alice in Wonderland in ca.1900. The scenes were drawn and painted by Sir Amédée Forestier (1854–1930) in c.1900. Given by Sir William Ingram.

A series of sketches showing scenes from a production of Alice in Wonderland in c.1900. The theatre is not identified.
The central image, captioned "The trial scene", is painted and shows the Queen of Hearts gesturing towards Alice. Behind the Queen stands the executioner with his axe upraised. Above this central image is a pen and ink sketch captioned "The Rabbit Song" it shows Alice surrounded by a group of kneeling rabbits (clearly humans in rabbit costumes). To the righto f this image is a smaller pen and ink sketch of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Below the central painting is a pen and ink sketch captioned "The Mad Tea Party" showing Alice seated at the tea table with the doormouse, March Hare and Mad Hatter (with his checked trousers and 10/6 Top Hat) in attendance. To the right of this is a detail of "The Red Queen".
The scenes were drawn and painted by the artist Sir Amédée Forestier (1854–1930) for reproduction in a magazine or newspaper in 1900.

Given by Sir William Ingram

Sir William Ingram (27 October 1847 – 18 December 1924) was a Liberal politician who was elected to, and sat, in the House of Commons on three occassions between 1878 and 1895. He was also the Managing Director of The Illustrated London News from the late 1870s until 1900 and became the proprietor of a number of additional publications including The Sketch and The English Illustrated Magazine.

The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper. Founded by Sir William Ingram’s father, Herbert Ingram, in 1842 the first edition was sold on 14th May 1842 at a cost of sixpence per copy. Building from an original circulation of 26,000 to in excess of 300,000 at its peak, The Illustrated London News remained in print until 2003 and commissioned illustrations from many of the leading artists of the late nineteenth century. Photographs were used alongside illustrations from the late 19th century onwards but illustrations were a major feature of paper until after the end of the First World War.

This sketch was one of a group of prints and pencil and pen and ink sketches donated to the museum in 1914 by Sir William Ingram (1847–1924). Part of this collection was originally donated to the Prints and Drawings Department with the majority later passing to the Theatre and Performance Department. The full collection includes work by a variety of artists amongst whom are: A. J Finberg; Ralph Cleaver; F.V.Poole and Rossi Ashton. Though not all the publications for which they were created are identified the majority of the sketches were commissioned for, and appeared in, The Illustrated London News, The English Illustrated Magazine or The Sketch.

Sir William Ingram became the proprietor of The Illustrated London News in the mid to late 1870s and remained in post until circa 1900 when he was succeeded by his he was succeeded by his son, Bruce Stirling Ingram (1877–1963). He also became the proprietor of The Sketch amongst other papers in which capacity he gave commissions to many leading artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

A series of sketches from a production of Alice in Wonderland in circa 1900. The central painted image is of "The Trial Scene" with the Queen of Hearts declaring "Off with her head". Surrounding pen and ink sketches show details of further scenes and characters from the play.

The sketches were drawn and painted by the artist Sir Amédée Forestier (1854–1930) for reproduction in a newspaper or illustrated periodical in c.1900. Sir Amédée Forestier (1854 – 1930) was an Anglo-French artist and illustrator. He began working for the Illustrated London News in 1882 and became known for his attention to detail and historical illustrations.

This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914.

S.365-2011