Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C , Case MB2G, Shelf SH1, Box EE197

Christmas

Etching
1850 (etched), 1926 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Palmer, Samuel (etcher)
Place of origin
England (etched)
England (printed)

'Christmas'. A small farmstead with a thatched roof, in the foreground a figure pens up a small herd of sheep and a child plays with a dog. Another child stands in the open doorway of the building, behind them can be seen a figure setting the table for a meal.


Object details

Categories
Prints
Christmas
Object type
Etching
Titles
  • Christmas
  • Folding The Last Sheep
Materials and techniques
Etching print
Printing Ink
Etching
Brief description
'Christmas' (also known as 'Folding the Last Sheep'). Etching print showing a figure penning up a small herd of sheep by a farmstead. Etched by Samuel Palmer in 1850, printed 1926.
Physical description
'Christmas'. A small farmstead with a thatched roof, in the foreground a figure pens up a small herd of sheep and a child plays with a dog. Another child stands in the open doorway of the building, behind them can be seen a figure setting the table for a meal.
Dimensions
  • Plate impression height: 12.4cm
  • Plate impression width: 10.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
Small etched triangle in the lower margin on the left (to identify the final printing).
Object history
Printed posthumously, in 1926, under the supervision of Sir Frank Short, Martin Hardie and F. L. Griggs.

The first published edition was issued in 'Samuel Palmer, A Memoir' by A.H. Palmer in 1882, in which the plate carried the engraved title 'Christmas' and the words 'from Bampfylde’s Sonnet'.
Subjects depicted
Agriculture
Eating
Sheep
Shepherd
Children
Trees
House
Farm
Christmas
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of an Exhibition of Drawings, Etchings & Woodcuts by Samuel Palmer and other Disciples of William Blake October 20 - December 31, 1926. London : Published under the authority of the Board of Education, 1926. Publication No. 178 E.I.D. pp.75-76.
  • Catalogue of an Exhibition of Drawings, Etchings & Woodcuts by Samuel Palmer and other Disciples of William Blake October 20 - December 31, 1926. London : Published under the authority of the Board of Education, 1926. Publication No. 178 E.I.D.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
CIRC.85-1962

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1105803/christmas-etching-palmer-samuel/
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