diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index f6986786..6b2d3bd7 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ export
   font,
   stroke,
   brush,
+  Surface,
   OHLC,
 
   colorscheme,
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index 3534b86f..bcde38a0 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ function addGadflyLine!(plt::Plot, numlayers::Int, d::Dict, geoms...)
       kwargs[:xmax] = d[:x] + w
     elseif lt == :contour
       # d[:y] = reverse(d[:y])
-      kwargs[:z] = d[:surface]
+      kwargs[:z] = d[:surface].surf
       addGadflyContColorScale(plt, d[:linecolor])
     end
 
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index d7a34526..4767eeaf 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ function _add_series(pkg::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
     # NOTE: x/y are backwards in pyplot, so we switch the x and y args (also y is reversed), 
     #       and take the transpose of the surface matrix
     x, y = d[:x], d[:y]
-    surf = d[:surface]'
+    surf = d[:surface].surf'
     handle = plotfunc(x, y, surf, d[:nlevels]; extra_kwargs...)
     if d[:fillrange] != nothing
       handle = ax[:contourf](x, y, surf, d[:nlevels]; cmap = getPyPlotColorMap(d[:fillcolor], d[:fillalpha]))
diff --git a/src/components.jl b/src/components.jl
index 7a22fcb3..8eedaa57 100644
--- a/src/components.jl
+++ b/src/components.jl
@@ -220,6 +220,15 @@ end
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+"represents a contour or surface mesh"
+immutable Surface{M<:AMat}
+  # x::AVec
+  # y::AVec
+  surf::M
+end
+
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 type OHLC{T<:Real}
   open::T
   high::T
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 79e48860..e65556d1 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -232,6 +232,9 @@ convertToAnyVector{T<:Real}(v::AMat{T}; kw...) = Any[v[:,i] for i in 1:size(v,2)
 # function
 convertToAnyVector(f::Function; kw...) = Any[f], nothing
 
+# surface
+convertToAnyVector(s::Surface; kw...) = Any[s], nothing
+
 # vector of OHLC
 convertToAnyVector(v::AVec{OHLC}; kw...) = Any[v], nothing
 
@@ -260,7 +263,7 @@ function computeXandY(x, y)
     error("If you want to plot the function `$y`, you need to define the x values somehow!")
   end
   x, y = computeX(x,y), computeY(x,y)
-  @assert length(x) == length(y)
+  # @assert length(x) == length(y)
   x, y
 end
 
@@ -363,11 +366,16 @@ function createKWargsList{T<:Real}(plt::PlottingObject, x::AVec, y::AVec, zmat::
   @assert x == sort(x)
   @assert y == sort(y)
   @assert size(zmat) == (length(x), length(y))
-  surf = Array(Any,1,1)
-  surf[1,1] = convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat)
+  surf = Surface(convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat))
+  # surf = Array(Any,1,1)
+  # surf[1,1] = convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat)
   createKWargsList(plt, x, y; kw..., surface = surf, linetype = :contour)
 end
 
+function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject, surf::Surface; kw...)
+  createKWargsList(plt, 1:size(surf.surf,1), 1:size(surf.surf,2), convert(Matrix{Float64}, surf.surf); kw...)
+end
+
 function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject, f::FuncOrFuncs; kw...)
   error("Can't pass a Function or Vector{Function} for y without also passing x")
 end