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The Forty Thieves

Watercolour
ca.1895 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Beatrix Potter (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (drawn)

Primary image in watercolour (sepia and grey washes) and pen and ink over pencil on paper. Contained within rectangle pasted on, asymmetrically to the left on card: laden donkeys in foreground, two with packs and one with ornate saddle and bells. A figure emerges from the cave in the background. Branches of an olive tree, cacti and other plants in front of rocky cave. Partial border in sepia ink over pencil (partly obscured by the primary image): three groups of four pots, some partly reveal hiding thieves.


Object details

Categories
Drawings
Illustration
Children & Childhood
Animals and Wildlife
Fairy Tales and Legends
Designs
Frames
Woman Artist
Watercolours
Object type
Watercolour
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Watercolour (Painting)
  • Mount
  • Mount
TitleThe Forty Thieves (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour, and sepia and grey washes, pen and ink and pencil on paper
Watercolour (Paint)
Ink
Pencil
Paper (Fiber Product)
Drawing (Image-Making)
Watercolour Painting (Technique)
Wash Technique
Brief description
Drawing, The Forty Thieves, watercolour (sepia and grey washes), pen and ink and pencil, by Beatrix Potter, Great Britain, ca.1895, Linder Collection object no. LC.21.A.5, catalogue no. 5.6
Physical description
Primary image in watercolour (sepia and grey washes) and pen and ink over pencil on paper. Contained within rectangle pasted on, asymmetrically to the left on card: laden donkeys in foreground, two with packs and one with ornate saddle and bells. A figure emerges from the cave in the background. Branches of an olive tree, cacti and other plants in front of rocky cave. Partial border in sepia ink over pencil (partly obscured by the primary image): three groups of four pots, some partly reveal hiding thieves.
Dimensions
  • Height: 141mm
  • Width: 215mm
Size of card.
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'The / Forty thieves' (In sepia ink in decorative lettering, 'Forty thieves' underlined twice.)
  • 'Ali Baba loads his / three asses with the bags of gold' (Caption in sepia ink.)
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
Pots
Donkeys
Cave
Cacti
Olive Tree
Ali Baba
Literary referenceAli Baba and the forty thieves
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, cat. no. 5.6
Other numbers
  • LOAN:LINDER TRUST.195-1994 - Previous Loan Number
  • 5.6 - Linder Collection catalogue no.
Collection
National Art Library
Library number
LC 21/A/5

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Record createdJuly 29, 2013
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1267819/the-forty-thieves-watercolour-beatrix-potter/
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