Ended 1907 Bing & Grondahl Christmas plate

1907 Bing & Grondahl Christmas plate The Little Match Girl by E. Plockross, 7", no certificate, in a B&G box that is not original to the plate, indents on back of plate.

This plate illustrates one of Hans Christian Andersen's best known fairy tales, "The Little Match Girl." The story was first printed in Copenhagen in 1846 in Dansk Folkekalender. Andersen wrote the following about the story: "The Little Match Girl was written at the Castle of Graasten, where I stopped for a few days on a journey abroad, and where I received a letter from the publisher, Mr. Flinch, asking me to write a story for the almanac, to accompany 1 of 3 pictures enclosed. The picture I chose was that of a poor little girl with a bundle of matches." The picture referred to by Andersen was a drawing by the Danish painter, J.T. Lundbye (1818-1848).

The story took place on a bitterly gold New Year's Eve. The little match girl was afraid to go home because she had not sold even a penny's worth of matches all day, and she knew her father would beat her. As she sat forlornly on the steps of a house she decided to try to warm herself by lighting one match. The glow of the match made her imagine she was warming herself by a warm stove. The illusion lasted only as long as the match burned. The second match caused her to think there was a delicious roast goose in front of her. With the third match she though she saw a beautiful Christmas tree. While burning the fourth match, the little girl saw her grandmother, the only person who had ever loved her and who was now dead. In an effort to keep the image of her grandmother with her, she quickly struck match after match. She begged her grandmother to take her along to the place where the grandmother went after each match burned. The next morning she was found on the steps, frozen to death with a smile on her face.

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