£5,000
Decorative Arts: Design since 1860 | 593
Auction: 1 April 2020 at 11:00 BST
watercolour and ink, signed with initials lower left, framed, 25cm x 19.5cm; and a copy of THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, illustrated by Leonard Leslie Brooke, published by F. Warne & Co.; together with a HARDBACK EDITION OF THE GOLDEN GOOSE BOOK, with illustrations by Leonard Leslie Brooke, published by F. Warne & Co.
Note: Despite formative training as a portrait and landscape painter, Leonard Leslie Brooke is best known as an illustrator, primarily for children’s books. Brooke quickly gained recognition for his work through numerous collaborations with Mrs Molesworth, author of children’s classics such as The Cuckoo Clock and The Carved Lions. In 1899, knowing his talent as an illustrator, Brooke decided to try his hand as a writer and penned the hugely popular novel Johnny Crow’s Garden. Following this success, Brooke moved his family to London and began working on illustrations for various fairy tales and nursery rhymes, of which The Golden Goose and The Three Little Pigs are widely considered his best work. These charming illustrations are characteristic of Brooke’s work: deploying witty visual puns which delight and amuse the audience.