'Chippendale in the drawing room': Beatrix Potter's fascination with furniture

Discover Beatrix Potter’s lesser known fascination.

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Tuesday, 28 August 2018 – Sunday, 17 February 2019 at South Kensington
+44 (0)20 7942 2000

  • Tuesday, 28 August 2018 – Sunday, 17 February 2019

  • Leighton, South Kensington

  • Free event

'Chippendale in the drawing room': Beatrix Potter's fascination with furniture photo

At the age of 18, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) wrote: ‘If I ever had a house I would have old furniture, oak in the dining room and Chippendale in the drawing room’. Potter was enchanted by historic furniture from a young age and delighted in sketching it. Featuring studies of pieces she saw in relatives’ houses or collected for herself, this display explores how Potter’s fascination with furniture and her changing tastes were reflected in her illustrations to the ‘little books’.

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Background image: Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit standing on a staircase landing Probably 1908 Watercolour on card Linder Bequest BP.509 © Frederick Warne & Co.