Fierce Looking Lion! Large Late 19th Century Ink Drawing in Period Frame straw stuffed animal and perfectly imperfect

and perfectly imperfect

and not a fussy thing about it

and there's a ton of chalk inside

which makes me think perhaps it was a manuscript illustration—and how I would love to see that manuscript if so

10 1/2" w x 10 1/2" d x 8 1/2" t

Fierce Looking Lion! Large Late 19th Century Ink Drawing in Period Frame straw stuffed animal and perfectly imperfectAs with so many Victorian era drawings, this large pen and ink drawing of a lion was based on a published one with a little searching I identified the source, which appeared in "Real Pen Work: Self instruction in Penmanship, published in 1882. (Included as last photo.) The published one made use of Spencerian calligraphic flourishes for the fur of the lion but whoever created this drawing did their own thing, discarding the curlicues in favor of more