Christmas Pudding at Sea
Artist
Unknown
Dateca. 1876
MediumPaper collage with albumen prints
DimensionsImage: 11 13/16 × 8 13/16 inches (30 × 22.38 cm)
Sheet: 13 7/16 × 10 3/8 inches (34.13 × 26.35 cm)
Sheet: 13 7/16 × 10 3/8 inches (34.13 × 26.35 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.342
SignedSignature [for wood carving] on image recto, lower left corner, in black pen: "J.NASH"
InscribedTitled on sheet recto, bottom, in black type: "CHRISTMAS PUDDING AT SEA--THE PRIDE OF THE SHIP'S COOK"
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionMale faces collaged onto a wood engraving; the image depicts men standing on the dock of a ship. One man holds a tray of Christmas pudding.Gallery LabelThis wood engraving by J. Nash was originally published in the January 1876 issue of Harper’s Weekly and was captioned “Christmas Pudding at Sea—The Pride of the Ship’s Cook.” The faces on the engraving were then removed—by a careful and consistent, but sadly unidentified, hand—and replaced with photographs of the faces of family members. Through these deft alterations, these unnamed people became active participants in an amusing pictorial adventure. In addition to the off-beat humor, this work represents a rich conceptual process of reclamation and transformation: these polite, mass-produced images were made to serve personal and playful ends.
"Plum-Pudding at Sea," Harper's Weekly 20:992 (January 1, 1876): 12.
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