This is the original cover painting for the fictional novel by Michael Pearson,  published by MacMillan/HarperCollins, 1980.   Charming in every detail, the image captures the essence of UK cover illustrations of the time....as well as the story: "Thomas Kingston, with a few hundred pounds, borrowed and saved, opened his first small shop in 1860. Through bankruptcy and blackmail, through fraud and fire, through family conflicts and his own passionate adventures, he held to his dream - a dream of a store where a person could buy everything he would ever need from birth to death. And Kingstons rose to such supremacy that it became known throughout the world as THE STORE."  Painted in gouache and acrylic on illustration board, c. 16" x 11".   Comes with a label attesting to its authenticity signed by Pether's widow, mounted to the back.