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Snake in the Grass Valentine card
Publisher: S. Marks & Sons
Comic valentine entitled, "SNAKE IN THE GRASS". A hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper. Appears to have originally been folded to create an inside page, but the pages are now pasted together. In the foreground, a large scaly serpent surmounted with the head and shoulders of a gentleman wearing a top hat. Behind him a farmer and his wife, carrying a cudgel and pitchfork are wading through a crop of hay towards it. A printed verse below: "A Snake in the grass we all with horror view, / And such a creeping reptile now are you; / Deceit, and cunning to your aid you bring, / And even your dearest friends you oft would sting, / A thing like you by none can e'er be prized, / As creep along both hated and despised ; / And those who know you never would repine, / To see you crushed, you sneaking Valentine." Printed below the image at lower left: London S, Marks & Sons. See also P.14345-R-84.
Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century
1850
-
1870
Accession number: P.14345-R-52
Primary reference Number: 214337
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2026) "Snake in the Grass" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/214337 Accessed: 2026-01-01 14:30:24
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/214337
|title=Snake in the Grass
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2026-01-01 14:30:24|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-214337
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp77/P_14345_R_52_1_201701_amt49_dc2.jpg"
alt="Snake in the Grass"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Snake in the Grass</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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