{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1820535"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1820535/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1820535","accessionNumber":"E.645-2026","objectType":"Drawing","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Drawing on board depicting an illustration for the 'Fuff' fairytale from The Dream Garden (1905) anthology, showing the princess transformed into a kitten leaping in the left-hand corner, her empty gown on the floor by a dressing table with a round mirror, and her shocked ladies-in-waiting, who are dressed in historical dresses and corneted headdresses, with inscription","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Headlam, Mary","id":"AUTH412780"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"pen and ink","id":"x30618"},{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"},{"text":"board","id":"x33244"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"},{"text":"watercolour (painting)","id":"THES250889"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"pen; gouache; board","categories":[{"text":"Drawings","id":"THES48966"},{"text":"Illustration","id":"THES48938"},{"text":"Fairy tales and Legends","id":"THES263583"},{"text":"Women artists","id":"THES387590"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLH","id":"THES49654"},"free":"","case":"WD","shelf":"234","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Drawing","id":"AAT33973"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1900","earliest":"1895-01-01","latest":"1904-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by David Peretz","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"356","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"290","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Centre beneath image: '\"Fuff!\"'; Left: pencil arrow pointing upwards","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscription in centre beneath image"}],"objectHistory":"This drawing depicts Headlam’s illustration for The Dream Garden (1905), an anthology of fairytales, stories, poems and plays for children, edited by Netta Syrett (1865-1943) and published by John Baillie (1868-1926). It included contributions from notable children's authors like Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) and E. Nesbit (1858-1924). Another artist featured in The Dream Garden was Headlam's friend Nellie Syrett (1874-1970), who also designed the cover. Headlam illustrated the story ‘Fuff’ by Christina Dening, about a princess who can turn herself into a kitten at will to avoid duties that she dislikes. The story’s theme concerns women’s agency and desire to escape convention, although the Princess loses this ability and marries a good-humoured prince at the end. Headlam’s illustration depicts the moment that the princess turns herself into a cat on her wedding day, escaping her wedding gown and slippers to the shock of her ladies in waiting and hairdresser. The anthology’s inclusion of feminist-inflected fairy tales reflects its editor's and contributors’ involvement in the New Woman cultural phenomenon of the turn of the century. Headlam befriended the Syrett family when she was a student at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1892 to 1896.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Drawing, illustration for the 'Fuff' fairytale, by Mary Headlam, pen, pencil and gouache, ca. 1900","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.645-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"645","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-11","recordCreationDate":"2026-04-22","availableToBook":false}}