Studies of guinea pigs for a picture story
Drawing
ca. 1890s (drawn)
ca. 1890s (drawn)
| 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.
Beatrix Potter made many imaginary drawings in the 1890s, before she published her books. Her picture series about a guinea pig, for which this sketch is a preparatory study, may well date from this time. For the more finished series of drawings, which Potter ordered and added captions to, see museum numbers BP.554(a) – BP.554(e). In the story we see an unfortunate guinea pig requiring some dental work. This drawing is a preparatory study for the fourth scene in the story, with the guinea pig who has had a tooth removed looking decidedly unwell, while ‘the friend and the dentist take a professional interest in the tooth, but none whatever in the victim’.
Beatrix Potter made many imaginary drawings in the 1890s, before she published her books. Her picture series about a guinea pig, for which this sketch is a preparatory study, may well date from this time. For the more finished series of drawings, which Potter ordered and added captions to, see museum numbers BP.554(a) – BP.554(e). In the story we see an unfortunate guinea pig requiring some dental work. This drawing is a preparatory study for the fourth scene in the story, with the guinea pig who has had a tooth removed looking decidedly unwell, while ‘the friend and the dentist take a professional interest in the tooth, but none whatever in the victim’.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Studies of guinea pigs for a picture story |
| Materials and techniques | pen and ink and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Preparatory study for a picture story about a guinea pig by Beatrix Potter, ca.1890s; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1055 |
| Physical description | A rough sketch of three guinea pigs, one looking unwell, with a second study of the poorly guinea pig. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | '19' (Written in pencil upper right.) |
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | 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. Beatrix Potter made many imaginary drawings in the 1890s, before she published her books. Her picture series about a guinea pig, for which this sketch is a preparatory study, may well date from this time. For the more finished series of drawings, which Potter ordered and added captions to, see museum numbers BP.554(a) – BP.554(e). In the story we see an unfortunate guinea pig requiring some dental work. This drawing is a preparatory study for the fourth scene in the story, with the guinea pig who has had a tooth removed looking decidedly unwell, while ‘the friend and the dentist take a professional interest in the tooth, but none whatever in the victim’. |
| 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.121; no.1055
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.121; no.1055 |
| Other number | LB.1055 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.555(c) |
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| Record created | August 18, 2016 |
| Record URL |
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