Sphinx Ligustri
Print
ca. 1896 (made)
ca. 1896 (made)
| Artist/Maker |
Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three Original Peter Rabbit Books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale.
Beatrix Potter had a strong interest in natural history and made many careful studies, including many drawings of magnified details of insects and plants. This lithograph detailing various aspects of a privet hawk moth, or, Sphinx Ligustri, is thought to date from 1896, a period that saw Potter consulting the collections of the Natural History Museum to support her understanding of natural history subjects. The Potter family home was in Kensington, not far from the museum. The lithograph is one of two known lithographs from a projected set of twelve commissioned by the scientist Caroline Martineau (see Linda Lear, Beatrix Potter: a Life in Nature, 2007, p.98).
The various views and details of the moth are indicated on the print with letters: A: caterpillar; B: chrysalis; C: view of the moth from above; D: leg x 20 magnification; E: leg x 20 magnification; F: leg x 20 magnification; G: wing scales x 50 magnification; H: wing scales x 600 magnification; I: the head with proboscis x 5 magnification; K: detail of the head x 600 magnification; L: detail of the head x 50 magnification.
For an unfinished, annotated proof of the print see BP.370 (Linder Bequest catalogue no. 340).
Beatrix Potter had a strong interest in natural history and made many careful studies, including many drawings of magnified details of insects and plants. This lithograph detailing various aspects of a privet hawk moth, or, Sphinx Ligustri, is thought to date from 1896, a period that saw Potter consulting the collections of the Natural History Museum to support her understanding of natural history subjects. The Potter family home was in Kensington, not far from the museum. The lithograph is one of two known lithographs from a projected set of twelve commissioned by the scientist Caroline Martineau (see Linda Lear, Beatrix Potter: a Life in Nature, 2007, p.98).
The various views and details of the moth are indicated on the print with letters: A: caterpillar; B: chrysalis; C: view of the moth from above; D: leg x 20 magnification; E: leg x 20 magnification; F: leg x 20 magnification; G: wing scales x 50 magnification; H: wing scales x 600 magnification; I: the head with proboscis x 5 magnification; K: detail of the head x 600 magnification; L: detail of the head x 50 magnification.
For an unfinished, annotated proof of the print see BP.370 (Linder Bequest catalogue no. 340).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Sphinx Ligustri (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | lithograph; printing ink on paper |
| Brief description | Lithograph of various details of a privet hawk moth, drawn on stone by Beatrix Potter and printed by 'West, Newman', ca. 1896; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.338. |
| Physical description | Lithograph showing ten views and details of a privet hawk moth in different degrees of magnification, indicated by letters by the different studies. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Drawn on stone by Beatrix Potter and printed ca. 1896. Acquired by the V&A from Leslie Linder (1904-1973) in 1973 as part of the Linder Bequest, a collection of ca. 2150 watercolours, drawings, literary manuscripts, correspondence, books, photographs, and other memorabilia associated with Beatrix Potter and her family. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three Original Peter Rabbit Books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale. Beatrix Potter had a strong interest in natural history and made many careful studies, including many drawings of magnified details of insects and plants. This lithograph detailing various aspects of a privet hawk moth, or, Sphinx Ligustri, is thought to date from 1896, a period that saw Potter consulting the collections of the Natural History Museum to support her understanding of natural history subjects. The Potter family home was in Kensington, not far from the museum. The lithograph is one of two known lithographs from a projected set of twelve commissioned by the scientist Caroline Martineau (see Linda Lear, Beatrix Potter: a Life in Nature, 2007, p.98). The various views and details of the moth are indicated on the print with letters: A: caterpillar; B: chrysalis; C: view of the moth from above; D: leg x 20 magnification; E: leg x 20 magnification; F: leg x 20 magnification; G: wing scales x 50 magnification; H: wing scales x 600 magnification; I: the head with proboscis x 5 magnification; K: detail of the head x 600 magnification; L: detail of the head x 50 magnification. For an unfinished, annotated proof of the print see BP.370 (Linder Bequest catalogue no. 340). |
| Bibliographic reference | Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection : the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material : watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985.
p.37; no.338
Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection: the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material: watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985. p.37; no.338 |
| Other number | LB.338 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.368 |
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| Record created | May 13, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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