Sketches for 'Tingle dingle dousy' thumbnail 1
Sketches for 'Tingle dingle dousy' thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Sketches for 'Tingle dingle dousy'

Drawing
ca.1905 (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.

This sheet is one of a group of sketches in the collection relating to the mouse protagonist of the play-rhyme ‘Tingle dingle dousy’, which is a variant of the popular nursery rhyme ‘Ding Dong Bell’. Potter wrote out the rhyme beneath one of her other sketches; see museum no. BP.629(a). The rhyme goes:

Tingle dingle dousy
Ding dong bell!
Laugh little mouse!
Pussy’s in the well!

Beatrix Potter had a keen interest in rhymes, which she adapted, wrote and illustrated. She worked on a book of rhymes in 1904-5, with the hopes that it would be published, so it is possible that her sketches for ‘Tingle dingle dousy’ date from around this time. Her publisher (Frederick Warne & Co.), however, was keen to keep up her successful stream of original tales, and after the death of Norman Warne, Beatrix’s editor and fiancé, in August 1905, the book was put to one side. Much later, in 1917, a developed version of the 1905 book of rhymes was published: Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes, followed by Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes in 1922.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSketches for 'Tingle dingle dousy'
Materials and techniques
pencil on paper
Brief description
Sketches relating to the rhyme 'Tingle dingle dousy' drawn by Beatrix Potter, ca.1905; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1089
Physical description
The sheet has a torn edge on the right, and was originally part of the same sheet as another sheet of studies for 'Tingle dingle dousy': museum number BP.629(d).
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 208mm
  • Sheet width: 100mm
Style
Production typeUnique
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.

This sheet is one of a group of sketches in the collection relating to the mouse protagonist of the play-rhyme ‘Tingle dingle dousy’, which is a variant of the popular nursery rhyme ‘Ding Dong Bell’. Potter wrote out the rhyme beneath one of her other sketches; see museum no. BP.629(a). The rhyme goes:

Tingle dingle dousy
Ding dong bell!
Laugh little mouse!
Pussy’s in the well!

Beatrix Potter had a keen interest in rhymes, which she adapted, wrote and illustrated. She worked on a book of rhymes in 1904-5, with the hopes that it would be published, so it is possible that her sketches for ‘Tingle dingle dousy’ date from around this time. Her publisher (Frederick Warne & Co.), however, was keen to keep up her successful stream of original tales, and after the death of Norman Warne, Beatrix’s editor and fiancé, in August 1905, the book was put to one side. Much later, in 1917, a developed version of the 1905 book of rhymes was published: Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes, followed by Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes in 1922.
Bibliographic references
  • 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.123; no.1089 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.123; no.1089
  • Taylor, Judy, Joyce Irene Whalley, Anne Stevenson Hobbs, Elizabeth M Battrick. Beatrix Potter 1866-1943: the Artist and Her World. 1987. London: Frederick Warne & Co. p.57 (illustrations mentioned in text) Taylor, Judy, Joyce Irene Whalley, Anne Stevenson Hobbs, Elizabeth M Battrick. Beatrix Potter 1866-1943: the Artist and Her World. 1987. London: Frederick Warne & Co. p.57 (illustrations mentioned in text)
Other number
LB.1089 - Linder Bequest catalogue no.
Collection
Library number
BP.629(f)

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Record createdAugust 25, 2016
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