One of the first ever Christmas cards is going under the hammer – with auctioneer Christie’s valuing it at £8,000
One of the first ever Christmas cards goes under the hammer on Wednesday – with auctioneer Christie’s valuing it at £8,000.
The 1843 festive greeting is one of the first commercial yuletide cards ever made – with the initial batch of 1,000 selling for a shilling each (5p). Around a dozen of these cards have survived the ravages of time and a decade ago they were selling for about £2,000.
The idea for the card came from civil servant Henry Cole who commissioned artist John Callcott Horsley to paint a picture of a happy family raising a Christmas toast, flanked by scenes depicting acts of charity. The introduction of the card was timely – with Cole previously being involved with the rollout of the ‘Penny Post’. This enabled cards to be sent via a national postal service with a Penny Black stamp on the envelope.
Collectable: The idea for the card came from civil servant Henry Cole who commissioned artist John Callcott Horsley to paint a picture of a happy family raising a Christmas toast
Michelle Higgs, Christmas card collector and author of the Christmas Cards Book, says these early ones were too expensive for most people. It was not until printers such as Charles Goodall & Son started to produce them on a larger scale that Christmas card sending started to become a middle-class pursuit. Higgs adds: ‘When Christmas cards were first produced they were luxury hand-painted items.
‘Then in the 1860s, a new chromolithographic printing technique was introduced that provided vivid colours and images that were far superior to the range of mass-produced cards we purchase today.’
Chromolithography replaced hand painting and involved a transfer of oil-based paints to paper using specially treated stones or metal plates. Higgs says that cards illustrated by talented Victorian artists are highly sought after. Favourites include Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane and William Stephen Coleman. Examples of such cards in great condition sell for £100 or more.
Another collectable Christmas card illustrator is Beatrix Potter whose cards can sell for £150. Malcolm Warrington, of the Ephemera Society, says the luxury card finish provided by printers such as Raphael Tuck & Sons, De La Rue and Marcus Ward & Co has turned some old Christmas cards into quality investments.
He says: ‘The reason collectors are willing to pay hundreds of pounds for old Christmas cards is that they were made to a level of skill that has now been lost.’
Warrington also believes the historic context can add to a card’s value. These include nature scenes featuring dead robins, symbolising how short life can be. Also, cards with anthropomorphic images – with animals dressed as humans – can add to value.
Examples include a ‘compliments of the season’ image of mice tucking into a cat for Christmas lunch – an 1879 card that changes hands for at least £50. A couple of duck-billed platypuses frolicking in the water in an 1882 card can sell for up to £100.
After 1870, Christmas cards could be sent in an unsealed envelope for a halfpenny – further boosting their appeal. Pictures of animals and winter pursuits, such as hunting and ice-skating, were popular but nature was usually at the heart of most illustrations. These included not only winter scenes but also spring images to symbolise hope for the future.
Santa Claus did not become a mainstay on the Christmas card until the early 20th Century Edwardian era. Initially, he was quite a slim fellow dressed in colours such as purple, green, blue and white. Such novelty cards now sell for up to £100.
Earlier, in the Victorian era, Santa competed with characters such as Mother Christmas. An 1870 ‘Mother Christmas’ yuletide card – where she looks suspiciously like a witch – can sell for up to £280.
It is not until Coca-Cola hijacked Santa in adverts to promote its fizzy drinks in the 1930s that he became a fat ruddy-cheeked bearded man full of Christmas cheer dressed in red with a furry white trim.