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The Surprise: P.14395-R

An image of Valentine card

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

The Surprise
Valentine card

Maker(s)

Publisher: Marcus Ward & Co.
Draughtsman: Greenaway, Kate (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

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.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

19th Century
Production date: circa AD 1876

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Lithography
Chromolithography

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14395-R
Primary reference Number: 214560
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 14 February 2017 Updated: Tuesday 27 March 2018 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "The Surprise" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/214560 Accessed: 2024-11-24 20:58:44

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/214560 |title=The Surprise |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-24 20:58:44|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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