Cicely Mary Barker (1895–1973)

A popular cherished British Artist, best known for her illustrated fairies with lepidopteran wings, from her "Flower Fairy" books. Cicely Mary Barker was born 28 June, 1895 in Croyden, Surrey, England. As a young child she loved painting and drawing. She suffered from epilepsy as a child Because of this she overprotected and treated as the baby of the family. This may have contributed to her understanding and portrayal of children in her artwork. Barker was exposed to the books of Kate Greenaway. She spent many hours in bed coloring or painting meticulously in her many Kate Greenaway painting books. She was educated at home. At the age of thirteen her Father enrolled her in an evening class at the Croyden School of Art, she continued to attend into the 1940’s, eventually she became a teacher there. Barker had a close bond with her Father his untimely death in 1912 left Mary and her sister trying to financial support the family, Mary sold poetry and illustrations to magazines such as My Magazine, Child’s Own, Leading Strings and Raphael Tuck annuals to raise money.

Barker’s fairies were based on her knowledge of plants and flowers and her artistic studies of real children, each dressed to represent a different flower. The success of her first volume in 1923, which she also wrote, led to the creation of seven more. Barker created a new costume for each of the fairies, carefully taking them apart when she was done in order to reuse the fabric. She never compiled a book of winter flower fairies. It was not until 1985, 12 years after her death, that Flower Fairies of the Winter was compiled from illustrations and poems in her other 7 Flower Fairies books. She died on February 16, 1973 at the age of 77 years old. Coincidentally, it was the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of her first ‘Flower Fairy’ book that year.

Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairy 'P' color print - c.1930

Pansy
Pansy and Petunia,
Periwinkle, Pink-
How to choose the best of them,
Leaving out the rest of them,
That is hard, I think.Poppy with its pepper-pots,
Polyanthus, Pea-
Though I wouldn't slight the rest,
Isn't Pansy quite the best,
Quite the best for P? Black and brown and velvety,
Purple, yellow, red;
Loved by people big and small,
All who plant and dig at all
In a garden bed. Each print is 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Very Good Condition

$14.99 + postage & packing

Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairy 'Y' color print - circa 1930

Yellow Deadnettle
You saucy X! You love to vex
Your next-door neighbour Y:
And just because no flower is yours,
You tease him on the sly.
Straight, yellow, tall, -of Nettles all,
The handsomest is his;
He thinks no ill, and wonders still
What all your mischief is.
Yet have a care! Bad imp, beware
His upraised hand and arm:
Thriugh stingless, he comes leaping-see!-
To save his flower from harm.Each print is 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Very Good Condition

$14.99 + postage & packing

Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairy 'W' color print - circa 1930

Wallflower
Wallflower, Wallflower up on the wall,
Who sowed your seed there?
"No one at all:
Long, long ago it was blown by the breeze
To the crannies of walls where I live as I please.""Garden walls, castle walls, mossy and old, These are my dwellings; from these I behold
The changes of years; yet each spring that goes by, Unchanged in my sweet-smelling velvet am I." Each print is 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Very Good Condition

$14.99 + postage & packing

Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairy 'V' color print - circa 1930

Vetch
Poor little U
Has nothing to do!
He hasn't a flower: not one.
For U is Unlucky, I'm sorry to tell;
U stands for Unfortunate, Ugly as well;
No single sweet flowery name will it spell-
Is there nothing at all to be done?
"Don't fret, little neighbour," says kind fairy V,
"You're welcome to share all my flowers with me-
Come, play with them, laugh, and have fun.
I've Vetches in plenty for me and for you
Verbena, Valerian, Violets too:
Don't cry then, because you have none. Each print is 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Very Good condition
$14.99 + postage & packing

Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairy 'S' color print - circa 1930

Strawberry
A flower for S!
Is sunflower he?
He's handsome, yes,
But what of me?-In my party suit
Of red and white,
And a gift of fruit
For the feast to-night:Stawberries small
And wild and sweet,
For the Queen and all
Of her Court to eat!
Each print is 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Very Good Condition

$14.99 + postage & packing

Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairy 'R' color print - circa1930

Ragged Robin
In wet marshy meadows
A tattered piper strays-
Ragged, ragged Robin;
On thin reed he plays.He asks for no payment;
He plays, for delight,
A tune for the fairies
To dance to, at night.They nod and they whisper
And say, looking wise,
"A princeling is Robin,
For all his disguise!" Each print is 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

Very Good Condition

$14.99 + postage & packing