Showing posts with label Beatrix Potter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beatrix Potter. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Another New Beatrix Potter Watercolor

Appley Dapply - Beatrix Potter 1890 via
There is nothing in real life more frightening to me than a mouse in the kitchen. But when they are wearing clothes, they are fine. Now, more about this mouse. Beatrix Potter gathered material for a book of rhymes over many years. In 1917, when her publisher was in financial difficulties and needed her help, she suggested that Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes could be brought out quickly, using her existing collection of rhymes and drawings.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Winter Antiques Show in NYC. Will you be going?



POTTER, Beatrix. The Tailor of Gloucester. Privately printed in London for the author, December, 1902. Original pictorial pink boards. Housed in a custom chemise and half morocco slipcase. Offered at $32,000. Read more.


Click here for the list of exhibitors.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Simpkin at the Tailor's Bedside - Beatrix Potter Watercolor

One of twenty-two original watercolors circa 1902 for The Tailor of Gloucester, Beatrix Potter's second and favorite book. The collection is in the Tate in London. via

Monday, January 5, 2015

Happy Christmas by Beatrix Potter

Here's another original image I've never seen before by Beatrix Potter.
A Happy Christmas to You.
Watercolor over graphite pencil with touches of pen and black ink on light weight card stock.
Circa 1890
Museum of Fine Arts Boston -- click on this link to view the artwork full size. It's wonderful.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Vintage Beatrix Potter TOM KITTEN Plush Toy Cat Circa 1973 For Sale on Ebay

I am selling this adorable Tom Kitten doll with no reserve on ebay. It isn't getting much interest so I thought it might be a good idea to blog about it again. Click here to see my no reserve auction. It ends on Sunday afternoon in case you want to bid. There are 12 photos posted for you to view so you can see him from all angles.

This is an old picture from an 2009 blog post about him.

He is sitting in one of my favorite antique side chairs.

I used to have him on the high chair shown in the first picture along with two antique teddy bears until Webster grabbed him one day and started giving him puppy love bites. He managed to rip one side of the little jacket before I could get Tom away from him. I mended it on the reverse side with light blue iron-on tape that I luckily had in my sewing basket. 

I just took this photo of him leaning on a pillow on my living room sofa. I forgot to position his tail so you could see it.

He's all dressed up and ready to go to a loving home. Thanks for helping me say goodbye to this adorable character doll. The Tale of Tom Kitten is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1907. The tale is about manners and how children react to them. Tabitha Twitchit, a cat, invites friends for tea. She washes and dresses her three kittens for the party, but within moments the kittens have soiled and lost their clothes while scampering about the garden. Tabitha is "affronted". She sends the kittens to bed, and tells her friends the kittens have the measles. Once the tea party is underway however, its "dignity and repose" are disturbed by the kittens romping overhead and leaving a bedroom in disorder.

Potter's career as a children's author and illustrator was launched in 1902 with the release of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. She continued to publish, and, in 1905, bought Hill Top, a farm in Lancashire, with the sales profits from her books and a small legacy from an aunt. Her tales were also inspired by the farm, its woodland surroundings, and nearby villages. Work began on Tom Kitten in 1906 and its setting became the Hill Top farmhouse. Illustrations depict the interior of the house and the gardens, paths, and gate at the front of the house.

Twenty thousand copies of the book were released in September 1907 and another 12,500 the following December. Potter composed a few miniature letters for child friends as if from the characters in the tale, and, in 1917, she released a painting book under Tom Kitten's name. In 1935, two books of piano pieces and piano duets for children were published with one piece inspired by Tom Kitten and another by the Puddle-Ducks. Tom and other characters in the book have become the subjects of a variety of merchandise over the years including porcelain figurines and plush toys. The tale is still in print, and has been translated and published in several languages.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Beatrix Potter Original Watercolors "This Pig Went to Market"

Sotheby's London, English Literature, History, Children's Books and Illustrations, 10 July 2012. Potter, Beatrix, Complete Set of Four Watercolours (on Three Sheets) for 'This Pig Went to Market,' £61,250.

I keep finding more and more unknown Beatrix Potter artwork. I'm happy about that and hope you are too.




The illustrations were originally published in "Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes," published in 1922. The first drawings shows a colonial looking pig riding a horse and cart to the market while another pig lounges on the fence with the intent of staying home. To accompany the text "This Pig had a bit of Meat; This Pig had none," the second illustration shows a grandmotherly pig frying meat (we're hoping it's not pork), while another pig-companion peels potatoes. A third drawing brings the rhyme to a close, depicting an adorable weeping pig who can't find its way home.
View full-size images at the Sotheby's site here - use arrow > to see all three.
You are welcome.
xo

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Rabbits and Christmas Buns by Beatrix Potter

Merry Christmas and Plenty of Buns
An entirely unknown drawing showing an inventive use of lettering on the jars, bag and label on the set of keys. The message reads: “A Merry Christmas and Plenty of Buns H.B.P.”
Beatrix Potter's full name was Helen Beatrix Potter. Since her mother's name was also Helen, she went by Beatrix.
Fine ink and watercolor drawing heightened with gouache signed lower right [within key label]. Sold at Sotheby's London July 2008 for 42,050 GBP 
Happy Christmas Eve. I'm having dinner with friends. See you on Christmas morning. xo

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Beatrix Potter Bunnies in Winter

I found another snow scene with Peter Rabbit that I haven't seen before. We can never get enough images by Beatrix Potter, can we? via

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Friday, December 5, 2014

Beatrix Potter Rabbits' Christmas Party - The Departure

I'm so excited that I found another watercolor I haven't seen before illustrating the Rabbits' Christmas Party by Beatrix Potter.
This one shows a big rabbit lighting the way with a lit candle as the guests put on their coats and depart.

See all the other illustrations for the Rabbits' Christmas Party in my 2009 original blog post about it here. I am so happy to see the end of the party. Somehow, Beatrix Potter and Christmas are perfect together. Enjoy! xo

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Beatrix Potter and Her Belgian Rabbit named Benjamin

I don't think I've ever seen this wonderful winter image by Beatrix Potter dated 1894. via

Or this one either from Sotheby's. There is a sweet story about the real bunny who was the inspiration for Benjamin Bunny. 

Benjamin Bouncer was a Belgian rabbit and was the first of Beatrix Potter's pet rabbits. He was acquired around 1885. She bought him from a London pet shop and brought him home in a paper bag.

This never-before-seen Victorian photograph shows the real Belgian rabbit who inspired Beatrix Potter's famous character Benjamin Bunny.
Benjamin Bouncer is pictured here in the late 1880s or early 1890s. He would later become Benjamin Bunny in Beatrix Potter's novels. She said he was very tame and clever. Read more about him in a great story in The Daily Mail. I never tire of reading about her and I love finding new artwork and photos to share with all of you. 

Beatrix Potter shown here with a pet dog. I don't recall ever seeing any of her artwork with dogs though I've seen many photos of her with them. Enjoy the article. xo

Monday, February 11, 2013

Beatrix Potter Original Drawing: The Mice Hear Simpkin Outside


click image to enlarge
This delightful ink and watercolor on paper circa 1902 is in the Tate Gallery in London. Simpkin is the Tailer of Gloucester's cat. He rescued these mice from under a teacup where Simpkin had hidden them and out of gratitude they are helping him finish a waistcoat for the mayor's wedding on Christmas Day. Beatrix Potter based her story on a true happening in Gloucester...read more here.
The Tate has 22 of Beatrix Potter's illustrations from her second book which she declared was her favorite. They were presented to the museum in 1946 by the artist's executor .. read more here.
Read the entire book free online compliments of Project Gutenberg eBook

Friday, January 4, 2013

Sewing Mice by Beatrix Potter

"The mice stitching button holes." 
From The Tailor of Gloucester, Beatrix Potter, cira 1902. I never tire of looking at her delightful images. via

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Roast Turkey Recipe by Beatrix Potter


"Pluck the bird carefully and singe all over with a piece of white paper; then wipe it with a clean cloth; draw in and keep the liver and gizard.
Wash the inside well and wipe it thoroughly dry with a cloth.
Cut the neck off close to the back but leave enough of the crop skin to turn over; break the leg bone close below the knee; draw out the sinews from the thighs and flatten the breast bone to make it look plump.
Fasten the neck with a skewer over to the back; run a skewer through the pinion and thigh on the other side and press the legs as much as possible between the breast and side bones.”
A turkey of ten pounds will take about 2.5 hours to cook - a larger one three hours or more.

A never seen before 161 recipe book by Beatrix Potter has been discovered and is up for auction. 
The recipes, which are believed to have been handed down over generations, include sponge cake, roast turkey and curry. The earliest entry is dated 1851 and the hand written cookbook was updated regularly over many years. Read the entire article HERE.

Beatrix Potter's recipe for Ginger Bread
Ingredients:
3.5 lb wheat meal
3.5 lb treacle
12 oz sugar
12 oz butter
2 oz ground ginger
1 oz pounded allspice
1 pint of ale
Add two thirds of the ale to the other ingredients and beat them well for some time then dissolve 1oz of common washing soda in the rest of the ale and add it just before you put it into the oven.
It requires a slow oven - (let all the ingredients except the flour and soda be put before the fire to dissolve for an hour or two.)

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Beatrix Potter Stamps | Royal Mail


Hands down, the Royal Mail has the BEST stamps. I love these from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. I pay almost all of my bills online but these stamps would make me want to mail something by snail mail. 

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Knitting Mouse | Beatrix Potter


I love discovering new drawings by Beatrix Potter that I've never seen before. This knitting mouse delights me. Signed lower right H.B.P. for Helen Beatrix Potter, her full name. via

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Beatrix Potter Mouse House in The Spring

Beatrix Potter. Don't you just love her illustrations? I don't care for mice in person ... just in storybooks. My violets are running wild all over the lawn and the scale in this artwork is just about perfect for a well-dressed mouse woman locking up her tree house to go shopping. Have a wonderful spring day. I hope I will see a house half this wonderful on realtor house tours today but I doubt that I will :) via

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Beatrix Potter Christmas Drawing - Plenty of Buns

An entirely unknown drawing showing an inventive use of lettering on the jars, bag and label on the set of keys. The message reads:
 “A Merry Christmas and Plenty of Buns H.B.P.”
Beatrix Potter's full name was Helen Beatrix Potter. Since her mother's name was also Helen, she went by Beatrix.

Fine ink and watercolor drawing heightened with gouache signed lower right [within key label]. Size: 152x153mm
Sold at Sotheby's London July 2008 for 42,050 GBP

You will love my post about her other drawings -- The Rabbits' Christmas Party

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hedgehog in A Wooden Bucket

I think Beatrix Potter is responsible for my love of hedgehogs so how could I possibly resist posting this adorable photo?

Friday, April 22, 2011