Guinea pigs gardening
Watercolour
01/1893 (made)
01/1893 (made)
| Artist/Maker |
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.
This work dates from 1893, when Potter is known to have borrowed guinea pigs from her friend and neighbour Miss Paget to make drawings: she wrote in her journal on 5 February 1893 that one of the guinea pigs ‘took to eating blotting paper, pasteboard, string and other curious substances, and expired in the night’. This composition was later redrawn for Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes (published 1922) to accompany Potter’s verses:
We have a little garden,
A garden of our own,
And every day we water there
The seeds that we have sown.
We love our little garden,
And tend it with such care,
You will not find a faded leaf
Or blighted blossom there.
This work dates from 1893, when Potter is known to have borrowed guinea pigs from her friend and neighbour Miss Paget to make drawings: she wrote in her journal on 5 February 1893 that one of the guinea pigs ‘took to eating blotting paper, pasteboard, string and other curious substances, and expired in the night’. This composition was later redrawn for Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes (published 1922) to accompany Potter’s verses:
We have a little garden,
A garden of our own,
And every day we water there
The seeds that we have sown.
We love our little garden,
And tend it with such care,
You will not find a faded leaf
Or blighted blossom there.
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Guinea pigs gardening (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour and pen and ink over pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Drawing of guinea pigs gardening in pen and ink and watercolour over pencil, drawn by Beatrix Potter in 1893 and later redrawn for the 1922 Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.741. |
| Physical description | An illustration of guinea pigs gardening; four guinea pigs work the soil with spades and a rake while a guinea pig with glasses and a blue coat looks on. The composition is in landscape format. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Jan 93' (inscribed on verso) |
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Drawn by Beatrix Potter in January 1893 (the composition later redrawn for the 1922 Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes). Acquired by the V&A from Leslie Linder (1904-1973) in 1973 as part of the Linder Bequest, a collection of ca. 2150 watercolours, drawings, literary manuscripts, correspondence, books, photographs, and other memorabilia associated with Beatrix Potter and her family. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | 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. This work dates from 1893, when Potter is known to have borrowed guinea pigs from her friend and neighbour Miss Paget to make drawings: she wrote in her journal on 5 February 1893 that one of the guinea pigs ‘took to eating blotting paper, pasteboard, string and other curious substances, and expired in the night’. This composition was later redrawn for Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes (published 1922) to accompany Potter’s verses: We have a little garden, A garden of our own, And every day we water there The seeds that we have sown. We love our little garden, And tend it with such care, You will not find a faded leaf Or blighted blossom there. |
| Bibliographic reference | Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection : the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material : watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985.
p.78; no.741
Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection: the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material: watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985. p.78; no.741 |
| Other number | LB.741 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.521(a) |
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| Record created | March 27, 2015 |
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