A Christmas pudding for the lighthouse
Friday 21 December 2012
Last year’s email Christmas card was received so well, I have done the same thing again—another wood engraving from the Illustrated London News, by the same artist, of a similar sentimental subject involving Christmas, a rowing boat, lighthouse keepers, and a pile-lighthouse.
W H Overend (artist), P Naumann (engraver), ‘A Christmas pudding for the lighthouse’, wood engraving published in the Illustrated London News Christmas number, 1891.
The handsome young woman, manoeuvring the boat with her oars, is a striking figure in the picture. Is she meant to represent the caring feminine aspect (was it her idea to make a pudding to sustain the lonely light keepers through their Christmas vigil…)? Or is she the original Page Three fantasy?
Detail of the pudding.