Not currently on display at the V&A

Little Bo-Peep

Illustration
ca.1900 (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
Title<u>Little Bo-Peep</u> (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and watercolour on card
Brief description
Watercolour drawing by Edith A. Cubitt, ca.1900; commissioned by Ernest Nister.
Physical description
Pen and ink and watercolour drawing on stiff card depicting a girl, Little Bo-Peep, in a field crying. The girl wears red and blue and holds her head in her hands. A shepherd's crook lies in the grass beside her, to which is tied a red ribbon. Two rabbits sit to the girl's left and a fence runs behind the girl towards a pink flowering bush. Mounted on card.
Dimensions
  • Mount height: 303mm
  • Mount width: 348mm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • Signed by the artist on the bottom right corner of the drawing
  • Bookplate on verso reads: 'From the Library of Anne Renier and F.G. Renier'
  • Initialled by Anne Renier in ink on verso: 'AR'
  • Inscribed in ink on verso: '8310 XXIV / E.A. Cubitt'
  • Inscribed in blue crayon on verso: '12/12' and '20'
Credit line
Donated by Anne Renier and F.G. Renier.
Object history
Drawn by Edith A. Cubitt for an Ernest Nister publication, ca.1900. 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
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 numbers
  • Nister - Previous Renier Collection pressmark
  • R(2)133 - Previous National Art Library pressmark
Collection
Library number
RENIER.270

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Record createdFebruary 19, 2008
Record URL
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