'Shall I come in, and cur off your threads?'

The image depicts a moment of tension between a cat, personified as “Miss Pussy,” and three industrious mice engaged in tailoring work. The mice’s cautious response to the cat’s invitation underscores the rhyme’s playful warning about predatory threats, while also reflecting Potter’s interest in anthropomorphic storytelling.

Executed in transparent watercolour over a fine pen-and-ink underdrawing, the work combines precise line work with soft washes of muted earth tones. Potter’s attention to texture—visible in the rendered fabrics and fur—demonstrates her skill in merging illustrative detail with a gentle, narrative atmosphere.

The watercolour formed part of a larger, unpublished booklet project that Potter prepared in the early 1890s. Though the booklet never reached print, the fourth design was later repurposed for her 1903 children’s book, The Tailor of Gloucester. The piece now resides in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection.

During the 1890s Potter explored traditional nursery rhymes as a source for narrative sequences, producing both detailed studies and completed illustrations. This series represents an early phase of her artistic development, preceding the publication of her celebrated Peter Rabbit books and illustrating her transition from private studies to commercial picture books.