Christmas card for 1950.

£4,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

The literal horror of the extraordinary wax dioramas produced by Gaetano Giulio Zumbo in the late 17th Century was certain to appeal to Waugh’s black humour, especially in juxtaposition with, and as metaphor for, the pleasures of family life, especially at this time, shortly after the birth of their seventh child Septimus in July (a delivery which Waugh monitored through the Times from London). The diorama illustrated here, which may be found in Florence’s La Specola museum, illustrates the effects of the Plague.

• Year: 1950

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