The Rojan illustrations in this portfolio depict a range of sex with animals, which is not only a taboo subject but is also – if depicted in photographs rather than drawings – illegal in many countries (though interestingly not in Russia, Japan, Chile, Hungary, Finland and Romania!). If you need reassurance about the legality of Rojan’s drawings, even where there are laws against bestiality they usually relate only to (this is from the UK Criminal Justice Act 2008) ‘performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal in an explicit and realistic way’. Rojan’s drawings may be imaginative, but are in no way realistic. Rest assured that no animals (or satyrs) were hurt in the making of this portfolio.

So, if you choose not to explore further, press the ‘back’ button now

You have been warned …

A few years after the Petit chaperon rouge portfolio, and a good decade before the first of the Père Castor children’s books featuring friendly animals like Mischief the Squirrel and Frou the Rabbit, Rojan was honing his animal-drawing skills with another set of drawings. Again almost certainly a commission to raise some much-needed income, this portfolio of ten detailed coloured pencil drawings show both skill and wit in imagining both parties apparently enjoying their shared experience.

As it was a one-off commission, this portfolio is not dated, so could be from any time in the 1930s. What we do know, however, is that in 1935 London Transport commissioned Rojan to produce artwork for a poster advertising travelling to London Zoo by tram from Camden Town station – a fascinating juxtaposition of animal-related artwork. The London Zoo poster is one piece of Rojan memorabilia that anyone can purchase; framed copies are available from the London Transport Museum shop here.