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Photograph of Bertram, Beatrix and Rupert Potter with partial border design of yellow and purple flowers

Watercolour
1898 (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.

Rupert Potter was a major influence on his daughter's artistic development from an early age. In the 1860s Rupert had become fascinated by the new art of photography. He was elected a member of the Photographic Society of London and exhibited regularly at annual exhibitions. During the Potter family's long summer holidays in Scotland and the Lake District it was Beatrix's delight to accompany her father on photographic expeditions. Happy to be by his side and excited by the possibilities of the new art form, she became his favourite and most forbearing subject and later became an avid photographer herself, inheriting one of her father’s old cameras. Beatrix produced several floral border designs in pencil and watercolour which she specifically intended as decorative mounts for her father's photographs. They demonstrate her great fondness for her father and her desire to be associated with his artistic pursuits. This design of yellow and purple flowers is the only example in the Victoria and Albert Museum which has been used as Beatrix intended, with a photograph pasted onto the centre of the design. Beatrix has chosen a photograph taken by her father in 1898 during a family holiday at Lingholm, an estate on the north-west side of Derwentwater in the Lake District. Beatrix stands while her father and brother, Bertram, sit on a paved patio leading from the house to the garden.

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read Introducing Beatrix Potter Beatrix Potter remains one of the world's best-selling and best-loved children's authors. She wrote and illustrated 28 books, including her 23 Tales which have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. In her later years, she became a farmer and sheep breeder and helped protect thousand...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePhotograph of Bertram, Beatrix and Rupert Potter with partial border design of yellow and purple flowers (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print on paper, mounted on card decorated with watercolour and pencil
Brief description
Photograph taken by Rupert Potter of Bertram Potter, Beatrix Potter and Rupert Potter at Lingholm, 1898; pasted onto card with a partial border design of yellow and purple flowers drawn in pencil and watercolour by Beatrix Potter.
Physical description
Photograph of Bertram Potter, Beatrix Potter and Rupert Potter (Bertram and Rupert seated and Beatrix stood between them behind a chair) on a paved patio with plants framing on the left and right and also on the house behind between the door and window. There is a reflection of a swan statue and garden plants in the window. The photograph is pasted onto a piece of card decorated with a partial border design of yellow and purple flowers drawn in pencil and watercolour with white highlights.
Dimensions
  • Whole object height: 241mm
  • Whole object width: 302mm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed by Beatrix Potter in ink on recto: Linghom 1898
Credit line
Given by Joan Duke
Object history
Photograph taken by Rupert Potter at Lingholm with partial border drawn by Beatrix Potter, 1898. Acquired by the V&A from Joan Duke in October 2006.
Subjects depicted
Place 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.

Rupert Potter was a major influence on his daughter's artistic development from an early age. In the 1860s Rupert had become fascinated by the new art of photography. He was elected a member of the Photographic Society of London and exhibited regularly at annual exhibitions. During the Potter family's long summer holidays in Scotland and the Lake District it was Beatrix's delight to accompany her father on photographic expeditions. Happy to be by his side and excited by the possibilities of the new art form, she became his favourite and most forbearing subject and later became an avid photographer herself, inheriting one of her father’s old cameras. Beatrix produced several floral border designs in pencil and watercolour which she specifically intended as decorative mounts for her father's photographs. They demonstrate her great fondness for her father and her desire to be associated with his artistic pursuits. This design of yellow and purple flowers is the only example in the Victoria and Albert Museum which has been used as Beatrix intended, with a photograph pasted onto the centre of the design. Beatrix has chosen a photograph taken by her father in 1898 during a family holiday at Lingholm, an estate on the north-west side of Derwentwater in the Lake District. Beatrix stands while her father and brother, Bertram, sit on a paved patio leading from the house to the garden.
Other number
AAD/2006/4/380 - Archive number
Collection
Accession number
AR.4:380-2006

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Record createdJune 28, 2007
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