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Beatrix Potter Illustration Of Mystery Rabbit To Sell At Bonhams
http://www.bonhams.com/books
Whilst Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny have entered the hearts and minds of generations
of children, Bonhams is to sell a watercolour illustration by Beatrix Potter of
a rabbit who was not published in any of her childrens books. Estimated at £10,000-15,000,
the unnamed bunny will be sold in Bonhams sale of Modern Pictures & Illustrations
to be held in Knightsbridge on Tuesday 11 November 2008.
Unlike Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, this character is clearly a girl from
the pink ribbon tied daintily around her neck. Beatrix, who painted much of her
work from life, may well have christened the little rabbit but today we can only
guess what her name might have been. The highly finished watercolour has been
in a private collection for over 50 years and has never been seen at auction before.
Alexandra Ault of Bonhams Watercolours department says: “Potter’s
world was by no means limited to that of Peter Rabbit and his published friends.
Just as important are the unnamed little mice, rabbits and cats that appeared
in finished watercolours. Their unique charm and the infrequency with which they
appear at auction creates a huge demand for this type of Beatrix’s work”.
Also included in the sale is a design by Beatrix for a Christmas card, featuring
three guinea pigs in a basket. While Potter is mostly associated with her childrens’
books, her earliest commercial works were actually Christmas cards. This particular
card was made in 1893 and Potter is known to have made at least two versions of
this scene, with the guinea pigs in different poses and a blank space on the basket
for a message. Beatrix borrowed guinea pigs for models from her friend Miss Paget,
the nursing reformer and she used them later in Cecily Parsley’s Nursery
Rhymes (1922). Very few Christmas card designs have appeared at auction and this
one, estimated at £6,000-8,000 is bound to attract much interest.
BEATRIX POTTER’S THOUGHTS ABOUT PETER RABBIT REVEALED IN PERSONAL LETTERS
Bonhams will also offer an archive of material relating to Beatrix Potter in its
sale of Printed Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Photographs to be held on Tuesday
4 November 2008 at the New Bond Street salerooms.
Estimated at £2,000-4,000 the collection includes a signed first edition
of The Tailor of Gloucester as well as correspondence between Beatrix Potter and
her friends, Elizabeth and Edith Todhunter. The Todhunter sisters established
a small business at their home in Windermere, designing and making bendable dolls.
Beatrix received several of these “wee folk” figures from the sisters
and was so delighted by them that she asked them to make figures of Mr McGregor
and Peter Rabbit.
In her letters to the sisters Beatrix describes having once made her own figure
of Peter Rabbit:
“I once made – (long ago and mislaid-) a figure of Peter Rabbit, which
was like your puppets, in that he looked alive, and was really charming…but
I did not make the mechanical parts very well, the joints and clothes were clumsy
– I wish I had not lost it all the same – the head and whiskers were
lovely…”
She also reveals her feelings about the commercialisation of her characters in
particular Peter Rabbit:
“There is nothing more to be made of “Peter” commercially. There
have been dolls, china, slippers, etc. for years – they bring in royalties;
but somehow I never care for any of them.”
Bonhams sale of Modern Pictures and Illustrations will be held on Tuesday11 November
2008 at the Knightsbridge salerooms.
Bonhams sale of Books, Maps and Manuscripts will be held on Tuesday 4 November
2008 at the New Bond Street salerooms. You can find out more about this sale by
visiting the website at www.bonhams.com/books
Further information and images Charlotte Wood +44 (0) 207 4688331 or email press@bonhams.com
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers
of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November
2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the
company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast
of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques
auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today,
Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms
in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout
the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston
in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams
has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries
offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. For a full
listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go
to www.bonhams.com. (1st January 2008)
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