Two designs showing mice with baby mice
Drawing
ca.1890-1904 (made)
ca.1890-1904 (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.
The upper design on this sheet relates to a colour illustration in The Tale of Two Bad Mice (Frederick Warne, 1904); the illustration is p.46 in the 2002 edition of the story. The composition was also used for the 1905 ‘Book of Rhymes’, the unpublished precursor of Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes (Frederick Warne, 1917), to illustrate the line ‘And put them to Bed’, from ‘There was an old woman who lived in a shoe’. Neither the line nor the illustration were included in the published version. There are related drawings in the Linder Collection (currently held at the Victoria and Albert Museum on long-term loan).
The sheet probably dates either from around the time of The Tale of the Two Bad Mice and the unpublished ‘Book of Rhymes’ (1904-5), or from slightly earlier, as Potter made numerous imaginary drawings in the 1890s, some of which fed into her later published work.
The upper design on this sheet relates to a colour illustration in The Tale of Two Bad Mice (Frederick Warne, 1904); the illustration is p.46 in the 2002 edition of the story. The composition was also used for the 1905 ‘Book of Rhymes’, the unpublished precursor of Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes (Frederick Warne, 1917), to illustrate the line ‘And put them to Bed’, from ‘There was an old woman who lived in a shoe’. Neither the line nor the illustration were included in the published version. There are related drawings in the Linder Collection (currently held at the Victoria and Albert Museum on long-term loan).
The sheet probably dates either from around the time of The Tale of the Two Bad Mice and the unpublished ‘Book of Rhymes’ (1904-5), or from slightly earlier, as Potter made numerous imaginary drawings in the 1890s, some of which fed into her later published work.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Two designs showing mice with baby mice |
Materials and techniques | pen and ink on paper |
Brief description | Two pen and ink designs of a mouse with baby mice by Beatrix Potter, ca.1890-1904; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1022. |
Physical description | Two mice designs on a single sheet; on the upper half of the sheet a mother mouse with her three baby mice: one is on her knee while the others are asleep in cot; on the lower half of the sheet a mouse teaching its children to read: a large 'M' is being drawn on a slate leaning against some books. |
Dimensions |
|
Style | |
Production type | Unique |
Marks and inscriptions | 'H.B.P. / H.B.P.' (Both designs inscribed by the artist in ink in the lower right.) |
Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
Object history | 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. The upper design on this sheet relates to a colour illustration in The Tale of Two Bad Mice (Frederick Warne, 1904); the illustration is p.46 in the 2002 edition of the story. The composition was also used for the 1905 ‘Book of Rhymes’, the unpublished precursor of Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes (Frederick Warne, 1917), to illustrate the line ‘And put them to Bed’, from ‘There was an old woman who lived in a shoe’. Neither the line nor the illustration were included in the published version. There are related drawings in the Linder Collection (currently held at the Victoria and Albert Museum on long-term loan). The sheet probably dates either from around the time of The Tale of the Two Bad Mice and the unpublished ‘Book of Rhymes’ (1904-5), or from slightly earlier, as Potter made numerous imaginary drawings in the 1890s, some of which fed into her later published work. |
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.116; no.1022
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.116; no.1022 |
Other number | LB.1022 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
Collection | |
Library number | BP.433(a,b) |
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Record created | July 29, 2016 |
Record URL |
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