Goblin Market
Painted and cut by Margaret Agnes Rope British
Based on designs by Laurence Housman British
Not on view
Although the composition is essentially Rope’s own invention, she was clearly looking very closely at the illustrations by Laurence Housman to the 1893 edition of the poem, published by Macmillan, a copy of which is in the Museum's collection (42.72bis). Unlike the more famous illustrations by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which concentrated more on Lizzie and Laura’s sisterly love than on the scenes featuring the goblins themselves, Housman developed the goblin figure types, swathed in voluminous mantles, with disconcertingly veracious rodent, feline and avian features peering out beneath wide-brimmed, shallow hats.
Rope originally intended this panel to be one of a series; another piece, representing the goblins’ failed efforts to tempt steadfast Lizzie with their fruits, remained in Rope’s family’s collection. In 1905, she was awarded a silver medal in the National Competition for her Goblin Market designs.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
