Shepard (Ernest) "Wind in the Willows" Toad Escapes from Prison, original pencil drawing with watercolour, signed lower right, caption beneath, mounted, framed and glazed, 232 x 169mm., [c.1931].

⁂ A wonderful image showing Toad, dressed as a washerwoman, walking away from an arched prison gateway. Kenneth Grahame's classic riverbank tale featuring Ratty and Mole and the irrepressible Mr. Toad, was first published in 1908 with only a woodcut frontispiece by Graham Robertson by way of illustration. E.H. Shepard, whose masterful interpretations of Winnie-the-Pooh and friends had enhanced A.A. Milne's classics when they appeared between 1924 and 1928, undertook the task of further invigorating Grahame's own classic in 1931 with the author imploring the artist, "I love these little people, be kind to them."

Mr. Toad of Toad Hall, conceited and boorish, who quickly becomes obsessed with various activities (most notably motor cars), gets his come-uppance when jailed for 20 years for stealing and crashing a car. He escapes by dressing as a washerwoman and, as befits a children's tale, he ultimately learns from his errant ways, apologises and by the end of the book is a loveable country gentleman.