It’s that time of year and while it seems less people are these days sending Christmas cards, there are many who still do.

While we’ve previously written about the origins of greeting cards at Christmas (and who first sent them), today we’re taking a look at the oldest shop in which they’re still sold in London – often said to be the Medici Gallery in South Kensington.

The gallery was opened by the Medici Society in 1908. This organisation had been founded by Philip Lee Warner and Eustace Gurney with the intention of promoting the work of artists to a wider audience. It initially operated on a subscription basis under which subscribers pay a set rate and then obtain copies of prints but later became a limited company.

The name Medici was said to have been chosen as a homage to the Medici family known for, among other things, the promotion of the arts in Florence during the Renaissance.

The gallery first started selling greeting cards in the 1930s and continues to do so today.

For more on the shop at 26 Thurloe Street, see www.medici.co.uk/.