Two rabbits smoking pipes
Watercolour
1902 (made)
1902 (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 watercolour was made for Noël Moore, the little boy to whom Potter first wrote the story of Peter Rabbit. Noël has inscribed the verso: 'After Beatrix Potter had written to me the first Peter Rabbit letter in Sept 1893, she made me some cardboard toys to amuse me during illness. Later on I asked her if she would make me a drawing for my albums of friends' paintings and drawings. This drawing of a somewhat older Peter is the result. It was drawn for me in 1902. Noël C Moore.'
A version of this illustration appears as the frontispiece in Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes. In the published illustration the second rabbit holds a newspaper instead of a pipe.
This watercolour was made for Noël Moore, the little boy to whom Potter first wrote the story of Peter Rabbit. Noël has inscribed the verso: 'After Beatrix Potter had written to me the first Peter Rabbit letter in Sept 1893, she made me some cardboard toys to amuse me during illness. Later on I asked her if she would make me a drawing for my albums of friends' paintings and drawings. This drawing of a somewhat older Peter is the result. It was drawn for me in 1902. Noël C Moore.'
A version of this illustration appears as the frontispiece in Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes. In the published illustration the second rabbit holds a newspaper instead of a pipe.
Object details
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| Materials and techniques | watercolour, gouache and pen and ink over gouache on paper |
| Brief description | Watercolour and pen and ink over pencil drawing of two rabbits smoking pipes made for Noel Moore by Beatrix Potter in 1902; a later variant of the composition was used as the frontispiece to Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes (1922); Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.744. |
| Physical description | Watercolour illustration bordered in black ink lines showing two rabbits sat smoking pipes in an interior, near to a hearth. The drawing is completed in watercolour and pen and ink over pencil, with an opaque white gouache used to depict the smoke from the pipes. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Drawn by Beatrix Potter for Noël Moore in 1902. 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 watercolour was made for Noël Moore, the little boy to whom Potter first wrote the story of Peter Rabbit. Noël has inscribed the verso: 'After Beatrix Potter had written to me the first Peter Rabbit letter in Sept 1893, she made me some cardboard toys to amuse me during illness. Later on I asked her if she would make me a drawing for my albums of friends' paintings and drawings. This drawing of a somewhat older Peter is the result. It was drawn for me in 1902. Noël C Moore.' A version of this illustration appears as the frontispiece in Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes. In the published illustration the second rabbit holds a newspaper instead of a pipe. |
| 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.744
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.744 |
| Other number | LB.744 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.522 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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