Holly and Mistletoe Gallery

Christmas Eve - about 1460 by Pauline Baynes

Christmas Eve, as celebrated in 1460 with children bringing in holly and the Yule Log to be lit on Christmas Day, and other joining in a last minute carol practice, while the lord of the manor sends his seasonable gifts of cheer and goodwill to the poor tenants. A holly wreath hangs from the weathercock and inside, a kissing bough is being fixed in place, the table linen, pewter and gold plate is arranged in readiness for the next day and one of the ladies carries a Twelfth Night cake which will be cut to mark the end of the Christmas celebrations

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10435125

Twelfth Night characters - Miss Mistletoe, 1844. Creator: Unknown

Twelfth Night characters - Miss Mistletoe, 1844. Character from William Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night, or What You Will", written as entertainment for the last day of the Christmas season. I am Miss Misletoe - ha! what now! Do you come and kiss me under the bough! If thus my lips of their dew you chizzle, Why Miss Mistletoe on her toe must mizzle!'. From a supplement to the From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Great Expectations: The Dickens Christmas Spirit by Matania

A Dickensian Christmas as imagined by the Italian-born artist, Fortunino Matania, who in his later career concentrated on historical genre subjects. This scene from the 1840s shows women in crinoline dresses arriving at a house. As they venture through a doorway, two gentlemen lie in wait, presumably to take advantage of the bunch of mistletoe hanging above. Date: 1937

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans