Artwork
Two rabbits in hats and coats with walking sticks walking through snow
Two rabbits in hats and coats with walking sticks walking through snow is a watercolor work on paper by the Impressionist artist Beatrix Potter. It dates from 1890 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This watercolour depicts two rabbits, attired in hats, coats, and carrying walking sticks, walking through a snowy landscape.
About this work
Beatrix Potter painted these two rabbits in 1890, long before Peter Rabbit.
Beatrix Potter painted these two rabbits in 1890, long before Peter Rabbit. She used watercolour to show them walking through snow in hats and coats. The scene was meant for holiday cards, not a children’s book.
Potter sold six designs to a printer to help buy a machine. This one later appeared in a 1917 nursery rhyme book. It’s a quiet, wintry moment in her early work.
See more of her art at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
This watercolour depicts two rabbits, attired in hats, coats, and carrying walking sticks, walking through a snowy landscape. Created in 1890 by Beatrix Potter, it was originally designed for holiday cards.
Subject & Meaning
The subject is a serene, wintry scene of two fashionably dressed rabbits. While unrelated to her famous Peter Rabbit stories, it reflects Potter’s early interest in illustrating anthropomorphic animals in everyday situations.
Technique & Style
Executed in watercolour, the piece showcases Potter’s skill in capturing delicate, snowy textures and conveying a sense of quiet movement through the rabbits’ poses.
History & Provenance
Sold to printer Hildesheimer & Faulkner in 1890 as one of six designs for holiday cards, a variant later appeared as the frontispiece of 'Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes' (1917).
Context
Created to help fund the purchase of a printing machine (a venture with her brother Bertram), this work predates Potter’s children’s book era, highlighting her early commercial illustration endeavors.
Artist & collection
Artist
Helen Beatrix Heelis (née Potter; 28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( BEE-ə-triks), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist.
