About the Artwork

THE TALE OF JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK published 1908

Beatrix Potter’s love of Hill Top and farming shine through this story.  She painted her farm manager’s wife, Mrs Cannon, feeding the poultry, while the children Ralph and Betsy (to whom this farmyard tale is dedicated) are also illustrated.  Kep the collie was Beatrix’s favourite sheepdog, and Jemima herself was a real duck who lived at Hill Top.  She is a most popular character: self-important, naïve, but very endearing. The story also contains many delightful views of Sawrey: Jemima’s wood can still be seen, the view from the hills above the farm, across Esthwaite Water, has not changed, and the Tower Bank Arms is still the local village pub.  This blend of fantasy and reality, so often to be found in Beatrix Potter’s work, gives a ring of truth to her imaginary world.