Celebration Gallery

Rustic sports in the Park - north view of Harewood House, 1845. Creator: Unknown

Rustic sports in the Park - north view of Harewood House, 1845. Celebrations at Harewood House near Leeds in Yorkshire. The events which gave rise to the Festival were the Coming of Age, and Marriage, of Lord Viscount Lascelles, the eldest son of the present Earl of Harewood...The juvenile company adjourned to the lawn opposite the north front, where the boys amused the girls by playing at football, bobbing for apples in water, diving for silver in flour, dancing, &c., until dark; when they returned home, and were amused in their way in the village with fire balloons and fireworks'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Bathing of the Buddha Festival, Qing dynasty, 1833. Creator: Hua Ziyou

Bathing of the Buddha Festival, Qing dynasty, 1833. Annual celebration held to commemorate the birth of the historical Buddha. One disciple opens his stomach to reveal the Buddha nature within, another magically creates a temple in mid-air. Some merely mend clothes or read sutras. Auspicious animals include a lion, elephant, tiger, dragon, and phoenix

© Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Wedding group in churchyard, c1948. Creator: Shirley Markham

Wedding group in churchyard, c1948. Couple getting married, with guests throwing confetti. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. The writer, artist, poet, and illustrator Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was one of her tutors, and her style of drawing was also influenced by other British illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Edward Bawden. Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration. Her portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time

© Shirley Markham Collection / Heritage-Images