I have to admit that I can’t make up my mind if these dancing elves are charming or stray a little to the creepy side. The face of the middle elf just has an almost evil look about him. The others all have big smiles.
Overall, I think this vintage Christmas image of five dancing elves would make a great addition to a larger creative work. It would not be too difficult to change the color of their clothes and even perhaps change the expression on the middle elf. (The more that I look at the image, the more I think he is sporting a mustache that somehow just went wrong and that it could easily be removed.)
Whatever you decide to do with this Christmas elves drawing, I hope you have fun doing it.
Frank T. Merrill (1848-1936) illustrated the work in which this image appeared. It was The Myths and Fables of To-Day by Samuel Adams Drake of 1900.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
