A Nursery Rhyme
Mary’s Little Lamb.
Henry Altemus Company: Philadelphia. 1906.
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A Nursery Rhyme
Mary’s Little Lamb.
Henry Altemus Company: Philadelphia. 1906.
Elephant's Picture Book 
‘Sleeping with the poppies’. Is this an opium-induced slumber?
Yes, I think it is. Look at the flowers in corners of the drawing. What’s your opinion? Sweet sleepy time?
Hi Ho,
Elephant
I think it’s very easy to read too much into a picture. Having said that, a lot of extremely talented artists must have felt stifled by having to produce images to order and may well have attempted to slyly slip a hidden message past a publisher.
The border shows all of the stages in a poppy’s life from bud to full flower, on past it’s best to a seed head which spills a lot of seed-like textures into the centrepiece’s wallpaper and strange bedhead.
Given that so much attention has been given to the poppy, it seems odd to then show a stem with several blooms on it it. Most un-poppy like!
Killkaties! I don’t think I have every seen such a long comment from you! Thank you for giving the poppies your full attention! I will admit I didn’t notice the poppies when I first decided to use the illustration – I just thought flowers, sleeping child, peaceful . . . But then I noticed!
I think sleeping potions and tonics were accepted then and giving them to children might have been entirely ordinary. I just wanted people to notice the poppies and what might be a good example of a different standard – then and now.
Elephant
Not sure if there is a message in the poppies but it is a very sweet illustration.
I know adults at that time used lots of tonics and things. What I got from the illustration was that the child was sleeping very soundly surrounded by poppies – maybe if they thought it was okay for adults it was okay for kids.
Elephant
In Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers there are 3 meanings for the Poppy
Poppy, Red Consolation.
Poppy, Scarlet Fantastic extravagance.
Poppy, White Sleep. My bane. My antidote.
Perhaps the poppies in the illustration are white.
I think her doll is smoking a pipe. 😀
Oh my, more mystery!
Elephant