Jessie M King illustrated books

Glaswegian Jessie Marion King(1875 -1949) was a Scottish illustrator known for her beautifully illustrated children's books.

After studying at Glasgow's School of Art she won a Queen’s Prize in the South Kensington National Art Competition and just a year later was working on book-cover design in Germany. King developed a distinctive and popular style of outline illustration, but also designed fabrics, wallpaper, costumes and interiors, as well as ceramics and silver for Liberty’s of London.

In 1908 she married the painter and designer E.A. Taylor, and they later moved to Paris to run the Shealing Atelier. The couple returned to Scotland on the outbreak of the First World War, setting up a small artists’ community in Kirkcudbright.