Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Print of the Day: A Victorian Christmas Card, "Hide Not Your Beauty"



The Victoria & Albert Museum


This Christmas card was made between 1885 and 1900 in Britain and is constructed in a sliding pop-up format. The front of the card is an icy green with gilt ornamentation and shows a pyramid of half a dozen little girls wearing similar party dresses with blue sashes. Each is holding a blue fan.

When the checkered sliding tab at the base of the card is moved to the middle, the pyramid of little ladies is pulled upright, revealing a verse:

"With CHRISTMAS Greetings. 
Hide not your beauty with the flirting fan, 
But win allegiance to your smiling face; 
Be first among the many, if you can, 
Queen of them all in comeliness and grace".



No comments: