Christmas, 1896 is a bright, bustling slice of turn-of-the-century holiday cheer, originally printed by the J. Ottmann Lithographic Company, one of the most prolific color printers of New York’s Gilded Age. Ottmann was known for richly layered chromolithographs that turned everyday advertising and seasonal ephemera into little bursts of technicolor, and this piece is no exception.
The scene captures the holiday as it was imagined in late-19th-century America: ornament-studded evergreens, rosy-cheeked children bundled in wool, and that soft, almost theatrical glow that lithography of the era produced so well. It has all the charm of an antique Christmas card scaled up into a full tableau, nostalgic without being saccharine, festive without feeling flimsy.
There’s a lovely time-capsule quality to it, too. Ottmann’s prints were made at a moment when American Christmas traditions were settling into the forms we recognize today, borrowing freely from German ornamentation and British Victorian storytelling. This artwork sits right in that cultural overlap, giving you a window into what “modern Christmas” looked like just as it was becoming modern.
• 520 pcs puzzle size: 15.74″ × 19.74″ (40 × 50.1 cm)
• Digitally printed
• Semi-gloss finish
• Vibrant colors
• Can be used as wall decor
Warning: Choking hazard—small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
Important: This product is available in US only. If your shipping address is outside this region, please choose a different product.
Christmas, 1896 is a bright, bustling slice of turn-of-the-century holiday cheer, originally printed by the J. Ottmann Lithographic Company, one of the most prolific color printers of New York’s Gilded Age. Ottmann was known for richly layered chromolithographs that turned everyday advertising and seasonal ephemera into little bursts of technicolor, and this piece is no exception.
The scene captures the holiday as it was imagined in late-19th-century America: ornament-studded evergreens, rosy-cheeked children bundled in wool, and that soft, almost theatrical glow that lithography of the era produced so well. It has all the charm of an antique Christmas card scaled up into a full tableau, nostalgic without being saccharine, festive without feeling flimsy.
There’s a lovely time-capsule quality to it, too. Ottmann’s prints were made at a moment when American Christmas traditions were settling into the forms we recognize today, borrowing freely from German ornamentation and British Victorian storytelling. This artwork sits right in that cultural overlap, giving you a window into what “modern Christmas” looked like just as it was becoming modern.
• 520 pcs puzzle size: 15.74″ × 19.74″ (40 × 50.1 cm)
• Digitally printed
• Semi-gloss finish
• Vibrant colors
• Can be used as wall decor
Warning: Choking hazard—small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
Important: This product is available in US only. If your shipping address is outside this region, please choose a different product.
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