Details
POTTER, BEATRIX. "Agaricus xerampelinus, var. 5." Original watercolor and pencil study. Circa 1895. 224 x 311 mm. (8 7/8 x 12¼ in.), mounting remnants on verso at corners (some pale staining showing through), some minor surface stains and soiling; matted. Potter has inscribed the species name faintly in pencil at the top of the sheet.
By the early age of nine, Potter was making carefully studied drawings of natural specimens she encountered on her holidays to the country with her family. The earliest known watercolors of fungi were painted in 1888. She developed a relationship with the retired Charles McIntosh (the "Perthshire Naturalist") following the Potter's summer stay at Birnam in 1892, and following their meeting it was agreed that if McIntosh would post specimens to London, Beatrix would paint them. Potter continued her studies of fungi throughout the 1890s, producing over 300 drawings. This fine study contains three full forms of mushrooms on a pale pencil and wash setting, and a cross-section of the mushroom cap.
By the early age of nine, Potter was making carefully studied drawings of natural specimens she encountered on her holidays to the country with her family. The earliest known watercolors of fungi were painted in 1888. She developed a relationship with the retired Charles McIntosh (the "Perthshire Naturalist") following the Potter's summer stay at Birnam in 1892, and following their meeting it was agreed that if McIntosh would post specimens to London, Beatrix would paint them. Potter continued her studies of fungi throughout the 1890s, producing over 300 drawings. This fine study contains three full forms of mushrooms on a pale pencil and wash setting, and a cross-section of the mushroom cap.
Literature
Anne Stevenson Hobbs, "Flora and Fauna, Fungi and Fossils," In: Beatrix Potter, 1866-1943: The Artist and Her World. (London, 1987), pp. 71-94.
Mary Noble, "Beatrix Potter, Naturalist & Mycologist and Charles McIntosh, the 'Perthshire Naturalist.'" Reprinted from: Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Volume 44, No. 3. (Edinburgh, 1987), pp. 607-27.
W.P.K. Findlay, Wayside & Woodland Fungi...with 59 colour illustrations of Fungi by Beatrix Potter, London, (1978).
Eileen Jay, Mary Noble, Anne Stevenson Hobbs, A Victorian Naturalist: Beatrix Potter's Drawings from the Armitt Collection, (London, 1987).
Mary Noble, "Beatrix Potter, Naturalist & Mycologist and Charles McIntosh, the 'Perthshire Naturalist.'" Reprinted from: Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Volume 44, No. 3. (Edinburgh, 1987), pp. 607-27.
W.P.K. Findlay, Wayside & Woodland Fungi...with 59 colour illustrations of Fungi by Beatrix Potter, London, (1978).
Eileen Jay, Mary Noble, Anne Stevenson Hobbs, A Victorian Naturalist: Beatrix Potter's Drawings from the Armitt Collection, (London, 1987).