His Majesty Receives (by William Holbrook Beard) Ceramic Tile

This design features a painting by the American artist William Holbrook Beard (1824–1900), for his satirical paintings of animals performing human-like activities. It shows a swaggering fox, which is wearing an elegant royal robe, intimidating and bullying a rabbit. Foxes are often seen as sly and crafty creatures, perhaps because they have a brutal need to hunt and kill in order to survive. The other animals are wearing business suits and they watch the scene with menace in their eyes. It is a satirical fantasy that tends to amuse and stimulate thought in both children and adults alike. The original painting was completed in 1885, and it is now housed in the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), Indiana, USA.