Christmas 2021

Like several other Christmas traditions, such as the Christmas tree, the custom of making decorated gingerbread houses originated in Germany, in the early 19th century. This was possibly a result of the popular success of the Grimm fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel”, where two lost children were enticed into a house made of gingerbread and topped with sweets.

Gingerbread was particularly popular in France, the Netherlands, Britain, Sweden and Germany, where in the 15th century a guild controlled its production. In the 16th century, the retinue of Queen Elizabeth I of England included a royal gingerbread maker. The Queen would hold banquets, where the easily moulded gingerbread was playfully formed into figures representing people at her court. During the Elizabethan era, gingerbread men were also sometimes presented as love tokens. This stamp features gingerbread baked in the shape of a Christmas gift.

This stamp design shows the Madonna tenderly cradling the infant Jesus in her arms, with the Latin posuerunt me custodem (they have appointed me as guardian) inscribed below. This plaque was made in the Italian Umbrian town of Deruta in the 17th century. The plaque measures 52 x 37 centimetres and is in the Australian Catholic University Art Collection.

The association between gingerbread and Christmas is not clear. Possibly the custom arose because of the belief that spices were warming in the cold northern winter, but probably also because a gingerbread house elaborately decorated with sweets and sugary delicacies is an indulgent extravagance permitted only once a year. This stamp design showcases a star shape, the star being a popular choice to top the Christmas tree.

The round plaque or tondo represented on this stamp was made in the late 19th century by Florence manufacturers Figli de Giuseppe Cantagalli. It shows a crowned Madonna as Queen of Heaven, clasping the standing Christ Child, with four cherubim in the background, encircled by a festoon of decorative leaves, fruit, pinecones and flowers. This relief, which is 38 centimetres in diameter, is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.