Girl and boy with willow whistles

© Estate of the artist or Publisher. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not fo…
© Estate of the artist or Publisher
Girl and boy with willow whistles
© Estate of the artist or Publisher. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not for reproduction or publication.

Girl and boy with willow whistles

Date1929
Artist (American illustrator and painter, 1878–1966)
Illustration Citation"The Willow Whistle," by Cornelia Meigs, in Child Life, September 1929
MediumInk on illustration board
Dimensionssheet: 12 7/8 × 10 in. (32.7 × 25.4 cm)
support: 19 1/2 × 15 3/8 in. (49.5 × 39.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Henrietta Wireman Shuttleworth, 2017
Object number2017-56
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextKatharine Richardson Wireman's drawing illustrates a key moment in a children's story about pioneer life on the American frontier. Eric has made willow whistles for himself and his friend Mary Anne, so that they can call to each other. The willow whistle plays a crucial part in rescuing Mary Anne later in the story. The artist enlivened the scene with an array of patterns and decorative motifs inspired by Native American designs.

Author Cornelia Meigs wrote prize-winning fiction and biographies for children. An English professor at her alma mater Bryn Mawr College, she was also an authority on children's literature.

© Estate of the artist or Publisher. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not fo…
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1930
© Estate of the artist or Publisher. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not fo…
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1930
Cover
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1916
© SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum…
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1923
God's Gift of Night
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1935
Cover
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1925
Cover
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1912
Cream of Wheat for "Sail"
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1912
© Artist or Publisher. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not for reproduction…
Katharine Richardson Wireman
1948