In the New Year, three Christmas cards by Beatrix Pot will be on display at Victoria and Albert Museum.
They were created by Potter when she was 23, to give her family and friends ‘five minutes of wonder.’ These first works commercially sold well and mark the beginning of her career in illustration.
They will be displayed as part of the Drawn To Nature exhibition at the V&A, which will open in February and tell her life story through more than 240 personal objects.
Potter was born 1866, and she died in 1943. She is best remembered for the Tale Of Peter Rabbit and her books about animals. However, Potter was also an important natural scientist and conservationist.
In the New Year, the Victoria and Albert Museum will display three Christmas cards that Beatrix Potter designed. Above: The card shows three guinea porcines in school uniforms following after their mother. She is holding a bowl full of food.
They were created when Potter, pictured in 1907 above, was 23, to give her family and friends ‘five minutes of wonder.’ These first works commercially sold well and marked her beginning as an illustrator.
The popularity of the cards encouraged Potter to approach greeting cards publishers with her work, and in 1890 her designs were commissioned by London-based company Hildesheimer & Faulkner.
The first two cards show off her famous anthropomorphic style of illustrating animals – one from the V&A’s collection depicts a rabbit inspired by her pet, the ‘charming rascal’ Benjamin Bouncer delivering Christmas post, while one on loan from the National Trust features guinea pigs dressed in school uniform, chasing after their mother.
Going on display for the first time in 20 years, the third is a hand-drawn prototype for an ‘elaborate’ card requested by card firm Hildesheimer & Faulkner showing an autumnal scene of a field mouse in a nest of leaves.
The first two cards show off her famous anthropomorphic style of illustrating animals – one from the V&A’s collection depicts a rabbit inspired by her pet, the ‘charming rascal’ Benjamin Bouncer delivering Christmas post
Going on display for the first time in 20 years, the third card is a hand-drawn prototype for an ‘elaborate’ card requested by Hildesheimer & Faulkner showing an autumnal scene of a field mouse in a nest of leaves
The book was never published widely, as publishers had chosen an illustration featuring mice in a coconut.
Annemarie Bilclough (the museum’s curator for illustration) and Frederick Warne (curator of the exhibition) said that they were delighted to have included a new design as well as two examples of Christmas cards made from Beatrix Potter’s designs. These are her first illustrations to go on sale.
“The cards were an important part in Beatrix’s life story. Their success is a testament to Beatrix’s practical business mind.
Across four sections, the V&A’s exhibition – which is being run in partnership with the National Trust – will follow Potter’s journey from the capital to the Lake District, where she eventually settled.
There will be other exhibits that relate to the Peter Rabbit series. Above: Potter’s 1904 watercolour, and pencil illustration (with Peter Rabbit)
Town and Country will be Potter’s childhood backdrop in South Kensington, London. It also features key items from Potter’s early years. This includes an album with family photos taken by her father, as well as art and furniture from her family home.
The Microscope will showcase her interests in natural sciences and show the complex drawings she has made about fungi.
This section will also feature a reimagining her London schoolroom with Bertram. The section features some of Bertram’s early observational sketches. These include the first schoolroom menagerie and the cabinet they used to store their bird eggs, fossils, rock, and butterflies.
Potter owned more than 92 pets in her life and was inspired by some of them to write her stories.
Beatrix Potter: Drawn To Nature will be available between February 12-2022 and January 8-2023.