Lot 367: [ BOOK ]

Tempest (Margaret, 1892-1982). Little Grey Rabbit holding a book, on a moonlit walk against a wintry landscape, watercolour, 98 x 98 mm, mounted Margaret Tempest studied at Ipswich School of Art, Westminster School of Art, and the Royal Drawing Society, and she was co-founder and honorary secretary of the Chelsea Illustrators Club. She was a prolific illustrator of children's books (her own and other people's), and worked for the Medici Society in the 1920s and 1930s, producing nursery friezes and postcards featuring animals and teddy bears. She is best remembered for her delicate watercolour illustrations for Alison Uttley's Little Grey Rabbit books, in which the influence of Beatrix Potter can be seen. Margaret Tempest had a difficult relationship with Alison Uttley, and author and illustrator held a long-running dispute over who was the primary begetter of the Little Gray Rabbit character. (1)