The rabbit's potting shed
- Object:
- Place of origin:
Bedwell Lodge, England (made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Beatrix Potter, born 1866 - died 1943 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour wash and pen and ink on paper
- Credit Line:
Copyright Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
- Image unavailable
Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three Original Peter Rabbit Books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale.
As well as an accomplished story-teller, Beatrix Potter was also a keen nature artist. Her menagerie of pets included rabbits, frogs, squirrels, mice and hedgehogs. When illustrating her tales she would always sketch her fictional characters from live models and often depicted real places in the backgrounds.
During the summer of 1891, the Potter family visited Bedwell Lodge, Hertfordshire. Beatrix Potter produced several sketches of the potting-shed, including this imaginative drawing of two rabbits potting geraniums. The potting-shed at Bedwell Lodge inspired Beatrix Potter's illustration of Mr. McGregor's tool-shed in The Tale of Peter Rabbit. In the story, Peter Rabbit runs into the tool-shed to escape from Mr. McGregor and hides inside a watering-can.
Physical description
Grey wash and pen and ink drawing on paper of the interior of the potting-shed at Bedwell Lodge, Hertfordshire, depicting two rabbits (one entering through the open door) potting geraniums, with a rake, broom, fork, spade, hoe and other garden tools on the right and potted geraniums and a watering-can on the left. The drawing is touched with chalky highlights.
Place of Origin
Bedwell Lodge, England (made)
Date
1891 (made)
Artist/maker
Beatrix Potter, born 1866 - died 1943 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Watercolour wash and pen and ink on paper
Marks and inscriptions
Note in pencil on verso: 112 [circled] / [horizontal line, arrows at each end] / 4 ½
Drawing-pin holes
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm whole object, Width: 163 mm whole object, Height: 188 mm image, Width: 146 mm image
Object history note
Drawn by Beatrix Potter at Bedwell Lodge, Hertfordshire in 1891. Acquired by the V&A from Leslie Linder (1904-1973) as part of the Linder Bequest in 1973.
Exhibition History
Beatrix Potter exhibition (Church Farmhouse Museum 08/03/1969-06/04/1969)
Beatrix Potter exhibition (Hatchards 27/09/1968-10/10/1968)
Beatrix Potter country: a legacy in Lakeland and beyond (Victoria and Albert Museum, Gallery 102 13 December 2011-10 June 2012)
Art of the garden (Manchester Art Gallery 05/03/2005-15/05/2005)
Art of the garden (Ulster Museum 01/10/2004-06/02/2005)
Art of the garden (Tate 03/06/2004-30/08/2004)
Peter Rabbit's garden (Daimaru Museum, Osaka 24/04/2003-06/05/2003)
Peter Rabbit's garden (Daimaru Museum, Kyoto 20/03/2003-01/04/2003)
Peter Rabbit's garden (Daimaru Museum, Kobe 13/02/2003-25/02/2003)
Peter Rabbit's garden (World Children's Art Museum, Okazaki 28/09/2002-13/01/2003)
Beatrix Potter: artist and storyteller (Morgan Library & Museum 12/05/1988-21/08/1988)
Beatrix Potter: artist and storyteller (Tate 18/11/1987-31/01/1988)
Beatrix Potter in Hertfordshire (Mill Green Museum & Water Mill 15/04/1984-16/09/1984)
Beatrix Potter in Scotland (Museum of Edinburgh 03/02/1982-27/03/1982)
Beatrix Potter in Scotland (Aberdeen Art Gallery 14/11/1981-30/01/1982)
Peter Rabbit 1893-1993 and The Tailor of Gloucester (Victoria and Albert Museum 02/10/1993-09/01/1994)
The Big Green Book: Maurice Sendak's tribute to Beatrix Potter (Beatrix Potter showcase) (Victoria and Albert Museum 11/09/2006-07/05/2007)
Beatrix Potter: the V&A collection (Victoria and Albert Museum 06/11/1985-02/02/1986)
Beatrix Potter: a Christmas exhibition (Victoria and Albert Museum 14/12/1972-28/01/1973)
Beatrix Potter Centenary Exhibition (National Book League 13/07/1966-30/07/1966)
Beatrix Potter & Kate Greenaway: National Library Week exhibition (Camden Town Hall 13/03/1967-01/04/1967)
Beatrix Potter 1866-1943 (Walthamstow Book Fair) (18/11/1966-03/12/1966)
Materials
Paper; Pen and ink and watercolour
Techniques
Drawing
Subjects depicted
Tools; Rabbits; Spade; Sheds; Brooms; Rakes; Watering cans; Flowerpots; Geraniums (flowers); Hoes; Bedwell Lodge; Garden forks
Categories
Illustration; Drawings
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
AAD
