A Gathering of Mice (printed with Bertha Lum)

Eleanor Bettina "Peter" Lum

According to Scholten Japanese Art: "Eleanor Bettina 'Peter' Lum, born on April 27, 1911 in Minneapolis, embarked on her first (of several) trips to Japan barely seven months later in November of the same year along with her mother Bertha and her sister, Catherine Maria Balliet (1909-1983). She acquired the nickname 'Peter Boy' because her sister, Catherine, two years her senior, was enamored with the children's book Peter Pan, and the name stayed with her throughout her life. ...This charming print, illustrating what appears to be a social gathering of mice, was produced when Peter was only nine years old and the Lum family was residing in San Francisco. The fanciful subject hints at Peter's future career as a children's book author and illustrator specializing in Asian themes."

Here, seven little mice gather around to listen to a larger mouse, backed by a peach-colored moon and flanked by toadstools. It's likely that the idea for the work was developed by Peter but was ultimately executed by her mother, artist Bertha Lum, explaining why it did not end up in the Gravalo/Pulin catalogue. The cursive signature in the image, lower right, shows signs of careful implementation, as if the writer was new to the craft, suggesting it was Peter copying her mother's elegant, slanting style.