A Merry Christmas to All
Christmas Card
c.1870s (made)
c.1870s (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Holly, as depicted on this Christmas greeting card, is widely used in seasonal domestic decoration. For devout Christians, the red berries and sharp thorns were not only decorative, but also symbolic of the Crucifixion. In the pagan tradition, holly was used to repel witches and evil spirits. From the 1840s onward, it is often paired with mistletoe in greeting card designs. Before the introduction of the Christmas card, it was commonly found on seasonal stationery and letterheads.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Merry Christmas to All (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | Cut paper lace, chromolithography and embossing |
| Brief description | Anonymous. One of a large collection of Christmas and New Year's cards, British, c.1870s |
| Physical description | Decorative cut gold and white irregular bordered paper lace with motto printed on embossed pattern of holly and mistletoe with berries |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | A Merry Christmas to All (Inscription; decoration; English; centre; embossing) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Holly, as depicted on this Christmas greeting card, is widely used in seasonal domestic decoration. For devout Christians, the red berries and sharp thorns were not only decorative, but also symbolic of the Crucifixion. In the pagan tradition, holly was used to repel witches and evil spirits. From the 1840s onward, it is often paired with mistletoe in greeting card designs. Before the introduction of the Christmas card, it was commonly found on seasonal stationery and letterheads. |
| Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1953 London: HMSO, 1963 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1968-1953 |
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| Record created | November 21, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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