The Garden, Soval

Elinor Pugh's talent for capturing character also extended to animals. This chaotic scene captures the various inhabitants of the gardens of Soval House, on a visit to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Each animal has its own small storyline: the calf chewing cheekily on a butterfly net, one little dog furiously digging a hole in the ground, the other making friends with a sheep. The additional vignette on the bottom right shows a pair of sheep who have broken into the toilet and are busily nibbling on sheets of 'Bromo' toilet paper, a popular 19th century brand claiming to be "a perfectly pure article for the water closet"!