Old Tom Tiddler
Illustration
ca.1900 (made)
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.
Audley Gunston produced frontispiece illustrations to a number of Charles Dickens' novels, including 'Tom Tiddler's Ground', published by Chapman and Hall in 1861. 'Tom Tidler's Ground', also called 'Tom Tiddler's Ground' or 'Tommy Tiddler's Ground', is the name of an ancient children's game; the phrase has come to mean the ground or tenement of a sluggard, or of one who is easily taken advantage of.
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.
Audley Gunston produced frontispiece illustrations to a number of Charles Dickens' novels, including 'Tom Tiddler's Ground', published by Chapman and Hall in 1861. 'Tom Tidler's Ground', also called 'Tom Tiddler's Ground' or 'Tommy Tiddler's Ground', is the name of an ancient children's game; the phrase has come to mean the ground or tenement of a sluggard, or of one who is easily taken advantage of.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | <u>Old Tom Tiddler</u> (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink and watercolour on card |
| Brief description | Watercolour drawing by Audley Gunston, ca.1900; commissioned by Ernest Nister. |
| Physical description | Pen and ink and watercolour drawing on stiff card. On the left of the drawing stands 'Old Tom Tiddler' - a man with white hair and a white moustache dressed as a huntsman, wearing red and leaning on a rifle. With a bugle slung over his right shoulder. A dog sits at his feet. He faces two children on the right of the drawing who stand beside a goat, hens and chicks. In the background is a haystack and beyond farm buildings. Mounted on card. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Donated by Anne Renier and F.G. Renier. |
| Object history | Drawn by Audley Gunston ca.1900 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 reference | Commissioned 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. Audley Gunston produced frontispiece illustrations to a number of Charles Dickens' novels, including 'Tom Tiddler's Ground', published by Chapman and Hall in 1861. 'Tom Tidler's Ground', also called 'Tom Tiddler's Ground' or 'Tommy Tiddler's Ground', is the name of an ancient children's game; the phrase has come to mean the ground or tenement of a sluggard, or of one who is easily taken advantage of. |
| Other number | Nister - Previous Renier Collection pressmark |
| Collection | |
| Library number | RENIER.290 |
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| Record created | February 22, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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