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Puss in Boots

Drawing
06/1894 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Drawing in pen and ink over pencil. Primary image is contained within an oval frame on its longest side, asymmetrically positioned to the left. Part of a desk is shown on which stand a crown on a cushion and inkwell with quill and coins and seal in the foreground. A cat dressed in buckled boots places one boot on the desk and has a game bag and dead rabbit slung over his left shoulder. He stands on a carved chair. An open door reveals a vaulted ceiling and staircase with newel posts surmounted by finials in the form of crowns. Asymmetric border contains a flowering rose-tree among whose branches, which also partly form the decorative title, are owls and other birds, a crown and pair of boots, a crouching cat, a rabbit, a spider's web, castle with a head protruding from the top of a tower a running booted cat chased by coach and horses, horsemen and a windmill, a smiling sun emerges from clouds with flying birds below.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePuss in Boots (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink over pencil on paper
Brief description
Drawing, Puss in Boots, design for book cover or title page, pen and ink over pencil, by Beatrix Potter, Great Britain, 1894, Linder Collection object no. LC.21.A.3, catalogue no. 5.7
Physical description
Drawing in pen and ink over pencil. Primary image is contained within an oval frame on its longest side, asymmetrically positioned to the left. Part of a desk is shown on which stand a crown on a cushion and inkwell with quill and coins and seal in the foreground. A cat dressed in buckled boots places one boot on the desk and has a game bag and dead rabbit slung over his left shoulder. He stands on a carved chair. An open door reveals a vaulted ceiling and staircase with newel posts surmounted by finials in the form of crowns. Asymmetric border contains a flowering rose-tree among whose branches, which also partly form the decorative title, are owls and other birds, a crown and pair of boots, a crouching cat, a rabbit, a spider's web, castle with a head protruding from the top of a tower a running booted cat chased by coach and horses, horsemen and a windmill, a smiling sun emerges from clouds with flying birds below.
Dimensions
  • Height: 166mm
  • Width: 206mm
Size of paper.
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'PUSS / IN / BOOTS' (Title in ink in decorative lettering.)
  • [part of Britannia figure in oval cartouche] (Watermark.)
Gallery label
(November 2019)
Puss in Boots, originally an Italian fable, was popularised by Charles Perrault (1628–1703). Potter’s decorative title, in which elements of the story are playfully arranged among tendrils of a rose bush, calls to mind border designs by German fairy tale artists. Like Otto Speckter’s title page for Perrault’s version of the story (right), Potter’s design also features boots hanging from a branch.
Credit line
Given by the Linder Collection
Object history
Given by Leslie Linder (1904-1973) to the National Book League (now the Book Trust) in 1970 as part of a representative selection of Beatrix Potter's work. This selection, comprising 279 drawings and 38 early editions and now known as the Linder Collection, was formerly on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1989 and 2019 form the charitable trust, The Linder Trust.
Subjects depicted
Literary referencePuss in Boots
Bibliographic reference
Hobbs, Anne Stevenson (compiler). The Linder Collection of the works and drawings of Beatrix Potter: catalogue of works on paper. London: The Trustees of the Linder Collection, 1996 (1999 reprint). p.46, catalogue no 5.7
Other numbers
  • LOAN:LINDER TRUST.193-1994 - Previous Loan Number
  • 5.7 - Linder Collection catalogue no.
Collection
Library number
LC 21/A/3

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Record createdJuly 29, 2013
Record URL
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