Frost Fair Keepsake

Date1740

MediumLine engraving and etching with letterpress

DimensionsPlate: H: 11" x W: 7 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1961-204

DescriptionIn central motif: "Upon the FROST in the Year 1739-40./ Behold the Liquid THAMES now frozen o'er!/ That lately SHIPS of mighty Burden bore,/ Here You may PRINT your Name, tho' cannot Write,/ 'Cause numb'd with Cold; Tis done with great Delight./ And lay it by; That AGES yet to come/ May see what THINGS upon the ICE were done./ John and Ann Archer,/ Printed on the ICE upon the Thames at Queen-/ Hithe, FEBRUARY the 1st, 1739-40."
Label TextIn the winter of 1739/40, the River Thames froze from bank to bank. This ticket or souvenir was printed on the frozen River Thames in February of 1740 by an unknown maker operating from Queenhithe. It's likely that the maker reused a ticket or frontispiece they had in stock and added the letterpress verse and the names of the buyer - in this case John and Ann Archer - to sell as a novelty keepsake to commemorate the event.