Victorian Easter Greeting Card with Child & Lilies

A solemn child has apparently abandoned her florist apprenticeship to stand motionless in a shadowy arched doorway, white robe clinging to her frame as she clutches a terracotta pot while taller lilies loom on either side like botanical sentinels. Dressed in flowing white and surrounded by potted lilies that dwarf her own height, she stares dead-eyed into the middle distance—the kind of look that suggests she has seen things, though the ornate gold filigree border and jaunty little bells dangling in the upper right corner are desperately trying to signal 'festive' anyway. The lilies, traditionally symbols of resurrection, are almost as tall as the child herself, which either represents the miracle of new life or the slow, inevitable triumph of houseplants over humanity. For a card promising that 'Easter Joy attend you,' this kid looks like Easter Joy took one look at her and kept walking.