Male crab spider thumbnail 1
Male crab spider thumbnail 2
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This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Male crab spider

Watercolour
ca. 1887 (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.

From early childhood Beatrix Potter spent time drawing the many pets that she kept in her schoolroom: over the years, her pets included lizards, snails, bats, mice, rabbits and many other animals. During the family’s long summer holidays to rural areas she also took the opportunity to draw the plants and animals she saw in the countryside. Even her earliest childhood drawings show a serious interest in natural history, her sketches annotated with information about the species concerned.

As a young woman Beatrix Potter studied natural history with some seriousness, exploring the collections of the Natural History Museum, including the insect cases and fungi specimens. She had a collector’s cabinet full of specimens, from shells to dead butterflies and moths, and used a magnifying glass and a microscope to examine them more closely. She made numerous carefully observed studies of animals and plants from life.

This study of a male crab spider (Xysticus cristatus) is closely related to another drawing, which was made at Lingholm near Keswick; see Linder Collection 7/A/1. As such it is probable that both studies were made at Lingholm, during one of the many summer holidays Beatrix Potter spent in the Lake District with her parents as a young woman.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Watercolour (Painting)
  • Label
TitleMale crab spider
Materials and techniques
Watercolour and pen and ink on card
Brief description
Drawing; study of a male crab spider (Xysticus cristatus), by Beatrix Potter, ca.1887; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.342
Physical description
Detailed study of a spider, yellow-brown in colour.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 270mm
  • Sheet width: 365mm
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, ca. 1887. 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.

From early childhood Beatrix Potter spent time drawing the many pets that she kept in her schoolroom: over the years, her pets included lizards, snails, bats, mice, rabbits and many other animals. During the family’s long summer holidays to rural areas she also took the opportunity to draw the plants and animals she saw in the countryside. Even her earliest childhood drawings show a serious interest in natural history, her sketches annotated with information about the species concerned.

As a young woman Beatrix Potter studied natural history with some seriousness, exploring the collections of the Natural History Museum, including the insect cases and fungi specimens. She had a collector’s cabinet full of specimens, from shells to dead butterflies and moths, and used a magnifying glass and a microscope to examine them more closely. She made numerous carefully observed studies of animals and plants from life.

This study of a male crab spider (Xysticus cristatus) is closely related to another drawing, which was made at Lingholm near Keswick; see Linder Collection 7/A/1. As such it is probable that both studies were made at Lingholm, during one of the many summer holidays Beatrix Potter spent in the Lake District with her parents as a young woman.
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.37; no.342 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.37; no.342
Other number
LB.342 - Linder Bequest catalogue no.
Collection
Library number
BP.252

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Record createdDecember 16, 2016
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