Sty Head Tarn
Watercolour
ca. 1900 (made)
ca. 1900 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
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 visited the Victoria and Albert Museum (then known as the South Kensington Museum) while living in London; it was close to her home in Bolton Gardens, South Kensington. This watercolour and pencil drawing of Styhead Tarn in Borrowdale, the Lake District, is a copy that she made of a drawing she saw during one of her visits to the museum; John Constable’s Sty Head Tarn (museum number 177-1888). Potter’s copy was probably made in around 1900, a century later than Constable’s tour of the Lake District in 1806, when he made his sketch of the tarn. Reflecting on her artwork in 1943, Beatrix Potter called a suggestion that her painting style had been founded on Constable ‘silly’, but referred to him as ‘a great artist with a broad style’.
The scene shows Styhead Tarn with three great mountain peaks beyond; Great End, Scafell Pike and Lingmell.
Beatrix Potter visited the Victoria and Albert Museum (then known as the South Kensington Museum) while living in London; it was close to her home in Bolton Gardens, South Kensington. This watercolour and pencil drawing of Styhead Tarn in Borrowdale, the Lake District, is a copy that she made of a drawing she saw during one of her visits to the museum; John Constable’s Sty Head Tarn (museum number 177-1888). Potter’s copy was probably made in around 1900, a century later than Constable’s tour of the Lake District in 1806, when he made his sketch of the tarn. Reflecting on her artwork in 1943, Beatrix Potter called a suggestion that her painting style had been founded on Constable ‘silly’, but referred to him as ‘a great artist with a broad style’.
The scene shows Styhead Tarn with three great mountain peaks beyond; Great End, Scafell Pike and Lingmell.
Delve deeper
Discover more about this object
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Sty Head Tarn |
| Materials and techniques | watercolour over pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Watercolour drawing of Styhead Tarn in Borrowdale, the Lake District, a copy after John Constable's watercolour 'Sty Head Tarn' of 1806 (also in the V&A collection), made by Beatrix Potter, ca. 1900, Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1132 |
| Physical description | A watercolour in narrow landscape format showing a tarn with three mountain peaks beyond, with a figure in the lower left, completed in watercolour over pencil using a muted palette of browns, purples, blues and green. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Styles | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Copy - from a sketch by Constable, at S. K. museum' (inscribed lower right in pencil by the artist) |
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Drawn by Beatrix Potter at the V&A (then South Kensington Museum) ca. 1900. 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 | |
| Places 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 visited the Victoria and Albert Museum (then known as the South Kensington Museum) while living in London; it was close to her home in Bolton Gardens, South Kensington. This watercolour and pencil drawing of Styhead Tarn in Borrowdale, the Lake District, is a copy that she made of a drawing she saw during one of her visits to the museum; John Constable’s Sty Head Tarn (museum number 177-1888). Potter’s copy was probably made in around 1900, a century later than Constable’s tour of the Lake District in 1806, when he made his sketch of the tarn. Reflecting on her artwork in 1943, Beatrix Potter called a suggestion that her painting style had been founded on Constable ‘silly’, but referred to him as ‘a great artist with a broad style’. The scene shows Styhead Tarn with three great mountain peaks beyond; Great End, Scafell Pike and Lingmell. |
| Bibliographic references |
|
| Other number | LB.1132 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.308 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 10, 2015 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
