Pottered history: The political side of Beatrix Potter She became involved in the tariff reform campaign after she found herself unable to get a local business to manufacture Peter Rabbit dolls for her, as the market had already been flooded with cheap, unauthorised imports from Germany. In the poster, the character is seen with a price tag in his ear and the words "Made in Germany" written underneath. Potter produced the works in 1910 - which saw two general elections held - at a time when tariff reform was a major issue. The Conservatives put it at the heart of their manifesto but many feared it would lead to higher food prices. The first election, in January, resulted in a hung parliament. The second, in December, also ended in deadlock, but Herbert Asquith's Liberal Party were able to form a government with the support of Irish Nationalists. The poster forms part of a display, due to open later this month at the Victoria and Albert Museum in west London. It is one of a number of exhibitions to be held there over the next four years to mark the centenary of the First World War. The exhibition, called Beatrix Potter: the Land, the Seasons and the War, also features other drawings Potter produced during the war period, including a printed leaflet of black and white illustrations of working farm horses appealing against the likely requisitioning of land horses, if conflict broke out. At the time Potter was living with her husband, William Heelis, a solicitor, at Castle Cottage in Near Sawrey, Cumbria, where she was a successful farmer. During the war period she began to focus her energies more on her farm work in the Lake District, buying up many pieces of land. When she died in 1943, aged 77, she left her property to the National Trust and is credited with preserving much of the area which now comprises the Lake District National Park. The display also features sketches of this countryside alongside letters which demonstrate her concern for those fighting abroad whilst also questioning the government's management of food and supplies back home. In one personal letter, she wrote: "The hens are about to be killed as they are due to lay again ... we are governed by idiots." Frances Willis, acting curator of children's literature at the V&A, said: "Beatrix Potter and warfare are topics that rarely share space in people's minds. However, Beatrix lived through the First World War and it affected her directly as the hands - on owner of a working farm in the Lake District. These two small scale political campaigns by Potter are not that well known but all contribute to the picture of her as a talented multifaceted woman with many interests and strings to her bow. The display runs from January 21 to October 12. Read The Daily Telegraph of 100 years ago at telegraph.co.uk/ww1archive