Watercolour drawing by Audley Gunston, ca.1900; commissioned by Ernest Nister.

Pen and ink and watercolour drawing on stiff card of a group of children going to bed. On the right of the drawing in the background a staircase leads up and to the right. On the first landing an older girl in a white nightdress holds a baby. At the foot of the stairs two elves start to ascend; the one on the left wears red and carries a lantern and the one on the right wears yellow. In the foreground three children walk to the corner of a hallway; all wear white nightdresses. The child in front carries a doll; the second child carries a wooden toy horse and the third child carries a candle. Behind the children are two elves, one carrying a book and one a lantern. The elf carrying a book holds onto the third child's arm. Above the children on the wall hangs a framed picture of a duckling. With yellow walls and green carpet. Mounted on card.

Donated by Anne Renier and F.G. Renier.

Drawn by Audley Gunston ca. 1900 for an Ernest Nister publication. Bequeathed to the V&A in 1970 by Anne Renier and Fernand G. Renier as part of the Renier Collection.

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.

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