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A little girl with a crown on her head is seated on the ground. Two women, one with a crown, are leaning against her, asleep.

A little girl with a crown on her head is seated on the ground, facing us. She is wearing a white ruffled dress and her petticoat peeps out from her skirt. Two women lean against her on either side. The woman on the left, who is asleep on the girls’ right shoulder, is wearing a crown, an orange patterned shawl, and black gloves, and holds a scepter in her right hand. The woman on the right, who is asleep in the girl’s lap, is wearing an orange patterned shawl, a beaded necklace, and black gloves. A crown is lying in the grass in the foreground.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1929.41.5
People
Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell, American (Bushnell, IL 1862 - 1924 Little Neck, NY)
Title
Alice Between Two Sleeping Queens, from "Through the Looking-Glass"
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: Through the Looking-Glass
Alternate Title: Five Illustrations for "Alice in Wonderland"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1902
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/306451

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, gouache, ink, and graphite on cream paper mounted on board
Dimensions
28.3 x 18 cm (11 1/8 x 7 1/16 in.)
mount: 39.8 x 29.4 cm (15 11/16 x 11 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: black ink, l.r.: Peter Newell
  • inscription: verso, blue pencil: 18578
  • inscription: verso: Through the Looking Glass / First one round head and then the other / rolled down from her shoulder and / lay like a heavy lump in her lap.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Philip Hofer, Gift to Fogg Art Museum, 1929.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Philip Hofer
Accession Year
1929
Object Number
1929.41.5
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Pinholes at all four corners.
Commentary
Caption from 1902 edition of Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking-Glass": First One Round Head, and Then the Other Rolled Down from her Shoulder.

"What am I to do?" exclaimed Alice, looking about in great perplexity as first one round head and then another, rolled down from her shoulder, and lay like a heavy lump in her lap. "I don't think it ever happened before, that anyone had to take care of two queens asleep at once! No, not in all the History of England-- it couldn't, you know, because there never was more than one Queen at a time. Do wake up, you heavy things!" she went on in an impatient tone; but there was no answer but a gentle snoring.

Publication History

  • Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, Harper and Brothers Publishers (New York, NY and London, England, 1902), reproduced facing p. 188

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu