drawing
- Museum number
- 1946,1121.19
- Description
-
Illustration for page 56 of 'The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies', 1909; group of rabbits peeping out from bush
Pen and brown ink and watercolour
- Production date
- 1909
- Dimensions
-
Height: 105 millimetres
-
Width: 125 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- Label from Room 90 display, 2007, for illustrations to pages 53, 56, 59, 62, 65 of Flopsy Bunnies:
After the bunnies were pulled out of the sack, Benjamin and Flopsy replaced them with rotten vegetables. They hid and watched for Mr McGregor (in the large central image here). The farmer fetched the bag and the rabbits followed along the garden path back to the house to listen under the kitchen window.
When preparing this book in 1909, Beatrix Potter was staying with her uncle and aunt at Gwaynynog, a large house in Wales, where she made many studies of the garden. She had described it on an earlier visit as 'the prettiest kind of garden, where bright old-fashioned flowers grow amongst the currant bushes.' It provided her with the basis for the lovely images of a garden here.
In addition to book illustrations, Beatrix Potter was also an expert natural historian; she not only drew, but also hunted fossils and recorded fungi in particular detail. Later in life she was a prize-winning sheep breeder and worked closely with the National Trust, helping them to buy lands with the proceeds of sales of her drawings to American collections.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1985 July, Shrewsbury, The Gateway, 'Beatrix Potter in Wales', (no cat.)
1992 Nov-Dec, Edinburgh, NG Scotland, "Once Upon a Time" (no cat)
2007 Jan-Feb, London, BM, P & D, Room 90 display
2009 Aug-Dec, London, V&A, Flopsy Bunnies display
2010 July-Oct, Hatfield, Mill Green Museum, Beatrix Potter in Hertfordshire - display
- Associated titles
Associated Title: The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
- Acquisition date
- 1946
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1946,1121.19