Not currently on display at the V&A

Boy playing a pipe

Illustration
ca.1910 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Ernest Nister (1842-1909) began his publishing career in 1885 when he acquired a lithographic workshop in Nürnberg and printed books for London publishers. In 1888 he became a publisher in his own right with offices at 24 St. Bride Street, London. He appointed the writer and editor, Robert Ellice Mack, as director.

Nister specialised in high quality colour printing for children in the last quarter of the 19th century. Movable books with various mechanisms became his speciality after 1890 (when be published his first stand-up book) but he also produced numerous picture books, annuals, poetry, nursery rhymes, calendars and greetings cards. He worked with a core of writers, including Clifton Bingham and Robert Ellice Mack, and illustrators, in particular Eveline Lance, Harriett M. Bennett, Edith A. Cubitt and Rosa Petherick.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBoy playing a pipe (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on card
Brief description
Watercolour drawing by Alice M. Cook, ca.1910; commissioned by Ernest Nister.
Physical description
Watercolour drawing on stiff card of a medieval scene in which a boy plays a pipe and a group of pigs and ducks dance behind him. The boy, wearing a red tunic and red hat, stands in an alley just in front of the corner of a toy shop. A potted geranium sits on the window ledge of the building on the right. Behind the boy an arch leads to more buildings. The drawing is signed on the shop on the left: 'AM Cook'. Mounted on card.
Dimensions
  • Mount height: 402mm
  • Mount width: 346mm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • Signed on the left of the drawing: 'AM Cook'
  • Bookplate on verso reads: 'From the Library of Anne Renier and F.G. Renier'
  • Inscribed in blue crayon on verso: '12/12', 'XXVII / 8593' and '23'
  • Inscribed in blue ink on verso: 'A M Cook'
  • Inscribed by Anne Renier in ink on verso: 'AR'
Credit line
Donated by Anne Renier and F.G. Renier.
Object history
Drawn by Alice M. Cook, ca.1910 for an Ernest Nister publication. Bequeathed to the V&A in 1970 by anne and Fernand G. Renier as part of the Renier Collection.
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceCommissioned by Ernest Nister. Possibly a version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Summary
Ernest Nister (1842-1909) began his publishing career in 1885 when he acquired a lithographic workshop in Nürnberg and printed books for London publishers. In 1888 he became a publisher in his own right with offices at 24 St. Bride Street, London. He appointed the writer and editor, Robert Ellice Mack, as director.

Nister specialised in high quality colour printing for children in the last quarter of the 19th century. Movable books with various mechanisms became his speciality after 1890 (when be published his first stand-up book) but he also produced numerous picture books, annuals, poetry, nursery rhymes, calendars and greetings cards. He worked with a core of writers, including Clifton Bingham and Robert Ellice Mack, and illustrators, in particular Eveline Lance, Harriett M. Bennett, Edith A. Cubitt and Rosa Petherick.
Other number
Nister - Previous Renier Collection pressmark
Collection
Library number
RENIER.261

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Record createdFebruary 18, 2008
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