Not currently on display at the V&A

'Picking the ripe apples'

Illustration
1905 (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 Harriett M. Bennett, Edith A. Cubitt and Rosa Petherick.

This illustration by Eveline (or Evelyn) Lance appears alongside a poem entitled 'Apples' by C.B. (possibly Clifton Bingham) in Nister's Holiday Annual for 1905 (no.1140a), edited by Alfred C. Playne and published in London by Ernest Nister and in New York by E.P. Dutton & Co.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • 'Picking the ripe apples' (manufacturer's title)
  • In the orchard (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on card
Brief description
Watercolour drawing by Eveline Lance, 1905; commissioned by Ernest Nister.
Physical description
Watercolour drawing on card of a boy and girl sitting in a tree. The girl wearing white on the left of the drawing holds an apple in her left hand. The boy wearing blue sits a little higher on the right of the drawing and reaches out to pick an apple with his right hand. Mounted on card.
Dimensions
  • Mount height: 315mm
  • Mount width: 254mm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • Initialled by the artist on the lower part of the tree trunk in the drawing: 'EL'
  • Bookplate on verso reads: 'From the Library of Anne Renier and F.G. Renier'
  • Initialled in ink by Anne Renier on verso: 'AR'
  • Inscribed in pencil on verso: 'In the orchard'
  • Inscribed in pencil on verso: 'E Lance'
  • Inscribed in blue crayon on verso: '8455 XXIV', '69' and '12/12'
Credit line
Donated by Anne Renier and F.G. Renier.
Object history
Drawn by Eveline Lance in 1905 for Ernest Nister. Bequeathed to the V&A in 1970 by Anne and Fernand G. Renier as part of the Renier Collection.
Subjects depicted
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 Harriett M. Bennett, Edith A. Cubitt and Rosa Petherick.

This illustration by Eveline (or Evelyn) Lance appears alongside a poem entitled 'Apples' by C.B. (possibly Clifton Bingham) in Nister's Holiday Annual for 1905 (no.1140a), edited by Alfred C. Playne and published in London by Ernest Nister and in New York by E.P. Dutton & Co.
Other number
Nister - Previous Renier Collection pressmark
Collection
Library number
RENIER.315

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Record createdFebruary 28, 2008
Record URL
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