Jessie Willcox Smith: Girl with the Umbrella, 1922 – Porcelain Art Mug

A child absorbed in her own world under a tilted umbrella, the composition simple and frontal, the colour warm despite the implied wet of the day. The umbrella's angle suggests movement and purpose; her expression is self-possessed. Jessie Willcox Smith understood that children in illustration need not perform cuteness — that the most affecting images are those in which the subject seems unaware of being observed.

The picture first appeared on the cover of Good Housekeeping in April 1922. Smith (1863–1935) was the most celebrated American illustrator of childhood of her generation, on that magazine's covers for fifteen consecutive years and illustrating editions of Little Women, A Child's Garden of Verses, Heidi and dozens of other canonical texts. She trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and under Howard Pyle at Drexel Institute, and her mature style — warm, richly coloured, with a gift for catching children in unself-conscious moments — was exactly attuned to the culture that bought the magazines. Her covers were collected, framed and treasured by the readers who found them.

Fine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. The image runs around the body; handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

Jessie Willcox Smith, cover illustration, Good Housekeeping, April 1922. Public domain.

Selected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.