Unseen Beatrix Potter illustration to go on display for first time at V&A

Peter Rabbit drawing for story of Kitty-in-Boots will be on display to celebrate 150th anniversary of birth of children’s author Beatrix Potter

The watercolour is unfamiliar, but the central figure is known to millions: a rabbit in a blue coat ferociously setting about a pair of villainous ferrets with his umbrella. The newly discovered picture by Beatrix Potter, for a story of Kitty-in-Boots – the black cat skulking behind the tree – that she never completed, will go on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 2 May, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of Britain’s best-loved children’s authors.

The uncompleted watercolour, which is owned by a private collector and will be seen for the first time on loan to the exhibition, was identified by curator Emma Laws as a study for a project known only from draft manuscripts of the text, one finished drawing and two rough sketches.

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