Beatrix Potter1866–1943Studies of sheep's head
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Studies of sheep's head” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
These watercolour sketches of a sheep's head were painted by Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) most likely after she began her later career as a farm and land owner in the Lake District. Potter purchased her first holding of Hill Top farm and farmhouse in 1905 partly from the income generated by the first few of her very popular 'little books'. She went on to acquire over 4,300 acres of fields, farms, cottages, and woodland in the Lake District which formed the Heelis Bequest to the National Trust after her death in 1943.
Although not the variety depicted here, Potter became increasingly interested in preservation of the Herdwick variety of sheep – a breed, uniquely suited to the Lake District’s rocky terrain – which was becoming endangered. She reared her own flocks, became a member of the Herdwick Sheep Breeder’s Association and won many prizes for her ewes in the local shows.
Read on
Beatrix Potter is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three original Peter Rabbit books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- BP.1443
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
