Flower studies; a flower similar to purple vetch and dianthus
Watercolour
14/09/1894 (made), 25/09/1894 (made), (made)
14/09/1894 (made), 25/09/1894 (made), (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
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 a young woman Beatrix Potter made many studies of flowers from nature. These drawings were made during the Potters’ three month summer stay near Coldstream in the Scottish borders in 1894. During a visit to the ‘quaint little’ coastal village of Burnmouth on 14th September, Potter drew the flower to the left of the sheet, described in her journal as a ‘most beautiful scented, purple striped-pea, smelling like a sweet-pea, it hung down the banks in growth something like the common, purple vetch, but the leaves more crossed and handsome.’
On 25th September, Potter and her father visited Smailholm Tower. In her journal entry for this day, she wrote: ‘I came back along the south slope, the turf very dry, short-cropped, but came across a flower that pleased me, Dianthus deltoides.’
As a young woman Beatrix Potter made many studies of flowers from nature. These drawings were made during the Potters’ three month summer stay near Coldstream in the Scottish borders in 1894. During a visit to the ‘quaint little’ coastal village of Burnmouth on 14th September, Potter drew the flower to the left of the sheet, described in her journal as a ‘most beautiful scented, purple striped-pea, smelling like a sweet-pea, it hung down the banks in growth something like the common, purple vetch, but the leaves more crossed and handsome.’
On 25th September, Potter and her father visited Smailholm Tower. In her journal entry for this day, she wrote: ‘I came back along the south slope, the turf very dry, short-cropped, but came across a flower that pleased me, Dianthus deltoides.’
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Flower studies; a flower similar to purple vetch and dianthus (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | watercolour, pencil and pen and ink on card |
| Brief description | Watercolour with pencil flower drawing; studies of a flower similar to a purple vetch and a dianthus, drawn by Beatrix Potter in Burnmouth and Smailholm, September 1894; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.272 |
| Physical description | Sketches on landscape format card. On the left a study of a plant, sketched out in pencil and worked up in some areas in watercolour and pen and ink, with green leaves and purple flowers; on the right studies of dianthus, a single pink flower worked up in watercolour with a brownish stem and green leaves; unfinished pen and ink studies of the same flower to the lower right. |
| 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 in Burnmouth on 14th September 1894 and at Smailholm on 25th September 1894. 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. As a young woman Beatrix Potter made many studies of flowers from nature. These drawings were made during the Potters’ three month summer stay near Coldstream in the Scottish borders in 1894. During a visit to the ‘quaint little’ coastal village of Burnmouth on 14th September, Potter drew the flower to the left of the sheet, described in her journal as a ‘most beautiful scented, purple striped-pea, smelling like a sweet-pea, it hung down the banks in growth something like the common, purple vetch, but the leaves more crossed and handsome.’ On 25th September, Potter and her father visited Smailholm Tower. In her journal entry for this day, she wrote: ‘I came back along the south slope, the turf very dry, short-cropped, but came across a flower that pleased me, Dianthus deltoides.’ |
| 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.31; no.272
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.31; no.272 |
| Other number | LB.272 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.358 |
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| Record created | May 1, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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