Watercolour drawing by E. Heatly, ca.1900; commissioned by Ernest Nister.

Watercolour drawing on card of a boy and two girls playing with toys. The boy sits on the edge of a table waving a red flag in his left hand and a bell in his right hand. Beside him on the table is a little dolls' house with a sign protruding from its roof on which is written, 'SEA / SiDe'. Two dolls sit on the table between the boy and the dolls' house. A notice stuck to the edge of the table reads, '1 PeNNy / for / Each / RAiLway / STAtun [sic]'. In front of the table on the floor two girls play with a train set. A ramp is formed by a plank of wood leaning on a pile of books on the right. The girl on the right, dressed in red, lets a train run down the plank towards the girl on the left dressed in white and blue (only partially visible). The train is full of toys. In the foreground on the floor beside the ramp is a purple casket, a doll and a donkey on wheels and several tiny toy animals. Mounted on card.

Donated by Anne Renier and F.G. Renier.

Drawn by E. Heatly ca.1900, probably for a calendar commissioned by Ernest Nister and printed by Martin, Billing, Son & Co., Birmingham. Bequeathed to the V&A in 1970 by Anne 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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