Valentine
1850–70
Medium
Cameo-embossed, open-work lace paper, colored paper, green ink
Dimensions
Width: 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm) Length: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
Classification
Ephemera|Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Richard Riddell, 1981
Accession Number
1981.1136.610
Art Historical Context
This delicate Valentine, created anonymously between 1850 and 1870, captures the romantic whimsy of Victorian-era courtship. Measuring just under 4 inches long, it's crafted from cameo-embossed, open lace paper—a technique that mimics intricate lace through precise cutting and pressing, creating a lightweight, ethereal quality. Colored paper and green ink add subtle hues, evoking fresh spring foliage and tender sentiments perfect for a lover's note. In the mid-19th, mass-produced valentines like this one surged in popularity, thanks to advances in printing and embossing that made affordable f...
About the Artist
Anonymous
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...