'THEY TOOK PETER'S CLOTHES OFF THE SCARECROW'. An original painting illustrating 'The Tale of Benjamin Bunny'.
$43,830 · Offered by Biblio
First edition
Original artwork. [c.1904]. Original watercolour, ink and bodycolour painted on cream silk, depicting Peter and Benjamin in a field with three birds and a scarecrow behind them. With the hand-written caption They took Peter s clothes off the scarecrow. Benjamin tried on the tam-o-shanter, but it was too big for him in ink underneath, and with a small pencilled number 8 to the left. Framed. Near fine condition, the painting and silk bright and clean save for a few very faint, tiny marks. The lightly rubbed frame is firm and sound. The illustrations measures 11.2 x 11.2cm and the glazed frame measures 13 x 13 cm. A stunning original Beatrix Potter illustration with excellent provenance. After the complex and intricately illustrated The Tale of Squirrell Nutkin and The Tailor of Goucester (both published in 1903), Beatrix Potter set out to create a simpler story in the style of The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902). The resulting book, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny , features both Peter and his cousin Benjamin (who was inspired by one of Potter s own pet rabbits) as they attempt to rescue Peter s clothes that were lost during his run-in with Mr McGregor. The present painting is one of a series given by the artist to her friends the Townley family of Hardcragg Hall, Grange-Over-Sands, Cumbria. The Townleys had a pig farm from which Potter s tenant farmer John Cannon bought pigs for Potter s Hill Top farm in Ambleside. When Potter went to see a new litter of piglets herself she came away w
- Publisher: Original artwork. [c.1904]
- Edition: First Edition
- Binding: hardcover
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