These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.
Download this imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
The Surprise Valentine card
Publisher:
Marcus Ward & Co.
Draughtsman:
Greenaway, Kate
(After)
Chromolithograph of a young couple wearing medieval costume in a garden, the youth has placed his hands over the girl's eyes from behind. ENT. STA. HALL at lower left and MARCUS WARD & CO at lower right (repeated below printed border). The chromolithograph is mounted on white 8vo-sized card with a gold lithographic border. On the right-hand inside page is a verse lithographed in gold ink with a blue border of scrolling leaves: "I dreamt I saw you yesternight. / And claspt my hands about your eyes, / Nor dared to venture in your sight / Until you pardoned the surprise. ...". MARCUS WARD & CO printed at lower left. A question mark in black ink has been added into the verse after the word "guess". This valentine design is by Kate Greenaway and was published by Marcus Ward & Co. as one of four illustrations created by her for the book, _The Quiver of Love, a collection of valentines ancient and modern_ (London, 1876), featuring men and women wearing medieval costume. All were unsigned. This design is titled _The Surprise_ and appears on p.53 of the book. See British Library: www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11115740613. Walter Crane also produced four designs for the book, all of which, like Greenaways, were also produced as valentine cards. The designs are among Greenaway's earliest work, before she became an established artist. The verses are believed to have been written by the Reverend W.J. Loftie. See Frank Staff, _The Valentine & Its Origins,1969, pp. 106-7_. This card was included in the exhibition of valentine cards, _For ever thine: the nineteenth century valentine_, held in the Charrington Print Room at the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1995, no. 62.
Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century
Production date:
circa
AD 1876
Accession number: P.14395-R
Primary reference Number: 214560
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
Mirador deep zoom
IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "The Surprise" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/214560 Accessed: 2024-12-27 14:02:11
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/214560
|title=The Surprise
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-27 14:02:11|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-214560
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/663/631/large_P_14395_R_4_201710_amt49_mas.jpg"
alt="The Surprise"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The Surprise</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...
