We don’t have an image of this object online yet. V&A Images may have a photograph that we can’t show online, but it may be possible to supply one to you. Email us at vaimages@vam.ac.uk for guidance about fees and timescales, quoting the accession number: BP.514
Find out about our images

Not currently on display at the V&A

Aunt Pettitoes feeding her piglets

Watercolour
1913 (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 is a variant illustration for Potter’s book The Tale of Pigling Bland (published 1913) showing Aunt Pettitoes feeding her piglets. Aunt Pettitoes is the mother pig in the tale who had too many children: ‘Four little boy pigs and four little girl pigs are too many altogether’.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAunt Pettitoes feeding her piglets (generic title)
Materials and techniques
watercolour and pen and ink on paper
Brief description
Watercolour and pen and ink drawing of Aunt Pettitoes feeding her piglets, a variant of an illustration in The Tale of Pigling Bland, by Beatrix Potter; probably drawn in 1913 for the book published by Frederick Warne & Co. later the same year; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.917.
Physical description
A watercolour and pen and ink illustration, the composition in portrait format, showing Aunt Pettitoes holding two buckets and her piglets eating from a trough within a field. The illustration varies slightly from the illustration used in The Tale of Pigling Bland; Aunt Pettitoes wears a plain rather than patterned apron, the position of the piglets is slightly different, there are variations in the use of tone and the viewpoint allows for more space around the characters with more sky and foreground grass.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 19.5cm
  • Sheet width: 16.5cm
Style
Production typeUnique
Credit line
Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number]
Object history
Drawn by Beatrix Potter, probably in 1913 when The Tale of Pigling Bland was published by Frederick Warne & Co. 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 is a variant illustration for Potter’s book The Tale of Pigling Bland (published 1913) showing Aunt Pettitoes feeding her piglets. Aunt Pettitoes is the mother pig in the tale who had too many children: ‘Four little boy pigs and four little girl pigs are too many altogether’.
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.99; no.917 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.99; no.917
Other number
LB.917 - Linder Bequest catalogue no.
Collection
Library number
BP.514

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdApril 1, 2015
Record URL
Download as: JSON