POTTER, Beatrix.

£40,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Original artwork for Comical Customers: "Squintina Tabby Licenced Dealer in Tea". A simplified engraving of this piece was reproduced in the 1896 Nister annual, Comical Customers, with the title "What shall we buy?" This is a fine, unusually large and detailed watercolour, depicting Squintina Tabby knitting at the entrance to her tea room, looking severely at a couple of frolicsome kittens peering in at the window.The drawing is based upon a photographic postcard of David Storry's teashop in Church Street, Whitby, and the titular cat was possibly modelled on one owned by Potter's uncle and aunt who they called Squintina or Squinty.A pencil and ink sketch of Squintina Tabby sitting in a chair knitting, together with a sketch of the head only, exists in the V&A Collection (V&A1028). It is reproduced in Linder (opposite p. 179). A different version of this drawing is in a private collection. The proprietor has less of a squint and the sign above the door simply reads "TABITHA PUSSY - licensed to sell TEA".In The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan, Ribby the cat states that she disapproves of "tin articles in puddings and pies" as "My Great aunt Squintina (grand-mother of Cousin Tabitha Twitchit) - died of a thimble in a Christmas plum-pudding".Provenance: Bertram Potter (1872-1918), the artist's brother; family descent, sold at auction in 2008; private collector.

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