For The House of Fairy Tales Portfolio, Rego contributed an image of a bedtime story being told by a mother figure. But then on closer inspection the stories seem dark and cruel there are nightmares lurking, this guardian is not safe. This work was published under the title ‘The Guardian’ as listed in the justification page of the boxed portfolio but is recorded under the title ‘Lullaby’ in the artist’s catalogue raisonné.
Etching, on Somerset White paper
Signed and numbered from the edition of 60
From House of Fairy Tales
Printed by Paupers Press, London
Published by House of Fairytales, London
Plate: 21.5 × 17.5 cm (8.5 × 6.9 in)
Sheet: 36.3 × 30.2 cm (14.3 × 11.9 in)
Rosenthal 256
In excellent condition
Frame: 45 × 38.5 cm (17.7 × 15.2 in)
A young mother has been successfully singing a lullaby, as the girl on the bed is asleep. Yet this nicely innocent, even heart-warming scene, is not all sweetness and light. In the bottom right, under the bed, lurks a head that, according to a conversation with Rego, 'is going to be burned'. In the upper background there is a monstrous creature. Rego does not say exactly what sort of monster it is beyond commenting that it is probably a bird, although clearly a bird of ill omen, likely to give the sleeping girl nightmares. Rego also stated that 'the monster was there first and I drew around it. It could be a nightmare bird-beast, but it's not really threatening because its beak is sewn up.'
— T. G. Rosenthal, Paula Rego: The Complete Graphic Work (London: Thames & Hudson, 2012), 315.
