Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)

Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)

Thomas Nast

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Santa dressed in a fur suit and with a box strapped to his back offers a stocking filled with lamb's tails to Little Bo Peep, as well as tacks and glue. The shepherdess at right holds a crook and is surrouned by toy sheep on wheels that lack their tails. A fir tree hung with more tails is shown behind the figures. The related wood engraving was published in the 1879 Christmas issue of Harper's "Young People." In 1862 Nast combined European traditions of St. Nicholas with folk images of elves from his native Germany to create the enduring image of a jolly gift-giver that we now so firmly associate with Christmas. Initially conceived as a way to cheer readers during the American Civil War, here Santa converses with a Nursery Rhyme character to entertain children.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)Santa Claus and Little Bo Peep (published in "Harper's Young People," December 23, 1879)

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.