A Hearty Welcome! – Victorian Christmas Card

A wonderfully strange Victorian Christmas card featuring an enormous polar bear enthusiastically embracing a bundled-up skater in an icy Arctic landscape, beneath the greetings A Happy Christmas! and A Hearty Welcome!

Dating from the late 19th century, the design leaves the exact nature of this extraordinary encounter charmingly open to interpretation. Whether the skater is receiving a particularly vigorous festive welcome or has rather more reason for concern, the scene is a wonderfully surreal example of Victorian Christmas humour.

Carefully restored from the original Victorian card, the design preserves the colour, character and wonderfully peculiar details of the period artwork.

- Blank inside for your own message
- Deep green envelopes included
- 5 × 7 in (12.7 × 17.8 cm)
- Fully printed front and back

A little piece of Christmas history

Turn each card over to find the title and approximate date of the original Victorian design, together with a framed detail from the artwork. The fully printed backs have been individually designed to complement each card.

Together, the five cards offer a glimpse into the wonderfully eccentric world of Victorian Christmas greetings - sometimes charming, sometimes funny and occasionally rather unsettling.

Printed in rich colour on silk-finish art card, giving the original illustrations depth and vibrancy while retaining their vintage character. Each card comes with a deep green envelope, chosen to complement the rich reds, aged creams and period colours of the artwork.

Printed in the UK using eco-friendly toner on card made from sustainably sourced pulp and produced as part of the Carbon Capture Programme.

Also available: as part of curated sets of five and ten cards.