As 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 intensive mark-making and a more realistic depiction, yielding what I think is a most fierce and fabulous creature. One could build whole collections of the "offspring" of  single published images--I know there is a rich field of lions out there based on this one, just as an example, from ultra naive to Spencerian masterworks!

Framed: 20 1/8" x 14". Sight: 17 1/8" x 11 1/4". Framed, under glass, as found, in an antique gold gessoed wooden frame. Drawing is in very good condition, bright and crispi, no notable toning or spotting. Frame shows some touch up to the gold at upper left and a few loose bits of brown paper or cardboard along the bottom edge--I havent opened the back to remove them.