Cockatoos and letters of the alphabet
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.
Potter made many imaginary drawing, including some to decorate letters of the alphabet, although this example featuring cockatoos is not typical. It has been suggested that this sheet might have been copied from an existing illustration. The possibility has also been raised that the drawing is actually by Rupert Potter, Beatrix’s father; Rupert Potter was also artistic and made some bird illustrations. Beatrix Potter also made drawings of birds, though: she had a canary and a budgerigar at home and made studies of birds ranging from parrots to jackdaws. She was keenly interested in natural history and particularly admired the bird illustrations of Thomas Bewick and Jemima Blackburn.
Potter made many imaginary drawing, including some to decorate letters of the alphabet, although this example featuring cockatoos is not typical. It has been suggested that this sheet might have been copied from an existing illustration. The possibility has also been raised that the drawing is actually by Rupert Potter, Beatrix’s father; Rupert Potter was also artistic and made some bird illustrations. Beatrix Potter also made drawings of birds, though: she had a canary and a budgerigar at home and made studies of birds ranging from parrots to jackdaws. She was keenly interested in natural history and particularly admired the bird illustrations of Thomas Bewick and Jemima Blackburn.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Cockatoos and letters of the alphabet |
| Materials and techniques | pen and ink and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Two drawings of cockatoos decorating letters of the alphabet; attributed to Beatrix Potter; ca.1890s; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1063. |
| Physical description | Two drawings of cockatoos: one front view with an ornamental letter 'M' and a spray of leaves above its head, the other a back view, looking left towards a lightly pencilled ornamental letter 'S'. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Possibly drawn by Beatrix Potter in the 1890s. 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. Potter made many imaginary drawing, including some to decorate letters of the alphabet, although this example featuring cockatoos is not typical. It has been suggested that this sheet might have been copied from an existing illustration. The possibility has also been raised that the drawing is actually by Rupert Potter, Beatrix’s father; Rupert Potter was also artistic and made some bird illustrations. Beatrix Potter also made drawings of birds, though: she had a canary and a budgerigar at home and made studies of birds ranging from parrots to jackdaws. She was keenly interested in natural history and particularly admired the bird illustrations of Thomas Bewick and Jemima Blackburn. |
| 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.1063
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.1063 |
| Other number | LB.1063 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.1199 |
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| Record created | August 24, 2016 |
| Record URL |
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