mrs-rabbit-and-peter-beatrix-potter-print

"Now run along, and don't get into mischief"

On a woodland path, under tall pale tree trunks, Mrs Rabbit bends down to straighten the collar of Peter's little blue jacket, while Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, in their red cloaks, are already setting off. It is a moment every parent knows: the last adjustment before the children go out, with a final word of advice. Peter lifts his face, all innocence. He has not the slightest intention of listening.

A jacket with a story

That blue jacket with its brass buttons will not come home. A few pages later, Peter loses it while escaping through Mr McGregor's gooseberry net, and the gardener uses it to dress a scarecrow. Beatrix Potter published The Tale of Peter Rabbit with Frederick Warne in 1902, after a first privately printed edition. Her watercolours, rooted in her close observation of real animals and of the English countryside, give the story its unique blend of realism and tenderness.

Why it works so well on a wall

With its soft blues, mossy greens and golden path, this scene brings a gentle woodland atmosphere to a nursery or a child's room. It is one of the most tender images Potter ever painted of a mother and her child, which makes it a lovely gift for a new mother, a baby shower or Mother's Day. Hang it next to Peter Rabbit and Family for a matching pair.

• Artist: Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
• Work: Illustration for The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• Date: 1902 (Frederick Warne edition)
• Medium: Watercolour and pen and ink
• Characters: Mrs Rabbit, Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail
• Design: Wallango edition, ivory background with museum-style caption

Discover all our Beatrix Potter prints.