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Exactly 160 years ago this month, author and illustrator Beatrix Potter was born. Museums & Galleries is celebrating the occasion and honouring her legacy with a collection of Peter Rabbit gift products launching exclusively at Home & Gift
Beatrix Potter was born in London in 1866, but her heart always lay in the Lake District. The author and illustrator first holidayed in Cumbria with her parents, at the age of 16.
Following the success of her early books, Beatrix didn’t just move to the Lakes: she bought up great swathes of it to protect the land as well as the traditional ways of life still practised there. When she died in 1943, she left 4,000 acres and 15 farms to the National Trust.
Few characters in literature have enchanted quite so many generations as those dreamt up by Beatrix Potter. Born from a deep love of the British countryside, her stories are defined by a blend of distinctive characters and dreamy watercolours.
To mark her 160th anniversary, Museums & Galleries (M&G) has invited Peter Rabbit and his friends to decorate a collection of gift items, uniting her legacy of illustration with M&G’s enduring aim of creating beautifully designed, high-quality home and gift items at attractive prices.
A visionary illustrator, pioneering scientist, and dedicated conservationist, Beatrix was far more than just a storyteller. But for many of us, our first introduction to her world was through a little rabbit in a blue jacket.
The story of the world’s most famous rabbit actually began as a letter to a sick child. In 1893, Beatrix Potter wrote to Noel Moore, the young son of her former governess, who was housebound. Lacking news, she wrote: “I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter”.
Her words were accompanied by charming sketches inspired by her own real-life pet rabbit, Peter Piper. That act of kindness to a child developed into a book in 1901, forever changing children’s literature and giving us the charming, blue-jacketed hero known worldwide today.
M&G is launching two collections of Beatrix Potter gift packaging products, for everyday and Christmas: sheet and roll wrap, gift tissue packs, and two sizes each of gift bags. There is a large theme pack of 16 notecards and envelopes, and a smaller pack of eight thank you cards and envelopes.
A luxury A5 notebook will inspire the user’s dreams and creativity, or customers can simply decorate their space with a magnetic notepad. An organic cotton pencil case will keep pens and pencils tidy.
There is also a stylish organic cotton tote bag, a fine bone china mug with a keepsake gift box, a set of cork-backed coasters, four bookmarks, a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, and a pack of playing cards.
The company is marking its return to Home & Gift with an abundance of gorgeous new products and extensions to existing ranges. There are two new kitchen textile ranges by William Morris from the V&A (Willow Bough and Kilburn); five new coaster set packs and two new placemat sets; new winter-themed single tea towels; a new range of gift wrap from M&G’s The Fold label; and a co-ordinated gift collection featuring Josie Shenoy’s decorative London Map – a big favourite with M&G customers since the initial card design was released earlier this year.
The new collection, entitled London Landmarks, includes a fine bone china mug, a PLA mug, an insulated metal bottle, a cork-backed coaster set, an organic cotton tea towel set, a playing cards pack, a magnetic notepad, and an A5 journal.