When the British Surrealist Group disbanded in 1947, Rimmington moved increasingly away from painting to explore Surrealist ideas through automatic poetry and experimental photography. The Museum I & II are exceptional works in

the artist's production, however, as they are original designs for a pair of posters advertising the London Underground, and represent one of Rimmington's only forays into commercial design. Fellow Surrealists such as Man Ray had also held commissions with London Transport (most famously with his 'Keeps London Going' design, 1938, in which the Underground roundel transforms into Saturn), though these designs by Rimmington were never realised.

The watercolours demonstrate the treasures available in London collections, and the images were taken from objects that Rimmington witnessed first hand, or copied from postcards and old magazines. Beatrice Behlen - the Senior Curator of Fashion and Decorative Arts at the Museum of London - has been able to connect Rimmington's works with specific items from the Museum's collection which were on loan to Kensington Palace at the time of Rimmington's visit in 1953, including George V's Coronation Robes and Queen Victoria's Coronation gown, respectively. Furthermore, Tor Scott (Curatorial Assistant at the National Galleries of Scotland), has identified various other objects that feature within the works. These include images of a sixteenth-century amethyst pendant discovered in the Cheapside Hoard, and a Medieval chess pieces, carved in bone, once owned by Samuel Pepys. There is a pair of gauntlets from the workshop of Lucio Piccinino and presented by the Duke of Savoy to King Philip III of Spain, and an eighteenth-century child's doll, rumoured to have belonged to the notorious pirate, Captain William Kidd. Lastly, the image of the balloon reproduces one shown in a Georgian print of Jean-Pierre Blanchard and Dr John Jeffries crossing the English Channel for the very first time.

Rimmington's output was relatively small, but these works testify to her exceptional technical skill as well as her ability to combine disparate objects to present hauntingly original compositions.

With thanks to Beatrice Behlen and Tor Scott.