Study for a scene in a picture story: 'the perfidious friend assures the guinea pig it "won't hurt"'
Drawing
ca. 1890s (drawn)
ca. 1890s (drawn)
| 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 made many imaginary drawings in the 1890s, before she published her books. Her picture series about a guinea pig, for which the sketch on this sheet is a preparatory study, may well date from this time. For the more finished series of drawings, which Potter ordered and added captions to, see museum numbers BP.554(a) – BP.554(e). In the story we see an unfortunate guinea pig requiring some dental work. This drawing is a preparatory study for the first scene of the story, in which ‘the perfidious friend assures the guinea pig it “won’t hurt”’.
Beatrix Potter made many imaginary drawings in the 1890s, before she published her books. Her picture series about a guinea pig, for which the sketch on this sheet is a preparatory study, may well date from this time. For the more finished series of drawings, which Potter ordered and added captions to, see museum numbers BP.554(a) – BP.554(e). In the story we see an unfortunate guinea pig requiring some dental work. This drawing is a preparatory study for the first scene of the story, in which ‘the perfidious friend assures the guinea pig it “won’t hurt”’.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Study for a scene in a picture story: 'the perfidious friend assures the guinea pig it "won't hurt"' |
| Materials and techniques | pen and ink over pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Preparatory study for a picture story about a guinea pig by Beatrix Potter, ca.1890s; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1056. |
| Physical description | Drawing of three guinea pigs, the one on the left with a bandaged head. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| 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. Beatrix Potter made many imaginary drawings in the 1890s, before she published her books. Her picture series about a guinea pig, for which the sketch on this sheet is a preparatory study, may well date from this time. For the more finished series of drawings, which Potter ordered and added captions to, see museum numbers BP.554(a) – BP.554(e). In the story we see an unfortunate guinea pig requiring some dental work. This drawing is a preparatory study for the first scene of the story, in which ‘the perfidious friend assures the guinea pig it “won’t hurt”’. |
| 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.121; no.1056
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.121; no.1056 |
| Other number | LB.1056 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.556(i)a |
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| Record created | August 18, 2016 |
| Record URL |
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