These mementoes
of a bygone age
are so popular
among collectors
that some
auction houses
now hold
specialised
sales. By Tony
Mortimer.
'Imagine
spending your
evenings
patiently
cutting out
intricate
patterned paper
and delicately
pasting small
coloured flowers
or hand painting
in watercolour,
and then
composing a
short verse
extolling your
love for some
young maiden.
All to form a
Valentine
constructed by
the light of a
kitchen fire or
at best a small
candle; the
finished card to
be sent
anonymously
without a hint
of the sender’s
identity... that
surely indicated
true love. It
certainly evokes
an age when time
and trouble were
taken to show
affection...'
Victorian Valentines from The Shell Collection.
'Shell’s
interest in
Valentine cards
began in 1938
with the
innovative idea
of sending
Valentine
greetings to
lady customers.
The cards were
designed by
artists of the
day and carried
witty jokes and
rhymes on
motoring and
petrol themes. A
Shell Valentine
card was not an
advertisement
for the company
and never
revealed the
identity of the
sender. Emphasis
on anonymity was
so strong that
ordinary postage
stamps were used
instead of the
company’s
franking machine...'
Comic Valentines by
Malcolm Warrington.
'In
mid-Victorian
England the
custom of
sending daintily
printed
valentines,
overflowing with
hearts, cupids
and poetical
posies was
generally
understood to
consist of an
exchange of
missives between
special loving
friends. Yet
beneath the
sweet exterior
and tender words
of these
lace-paper
beauties lurked
something far
more sinister –
the comic
valentine! These
scurrilous
printed sheets,
entered into the
humour of the
common and
middles classes,
fun and mischief
were their
elements...'
The Valentine Pattern. A close
up look at the links between Armorial Porcelain
and Gaming Chips By Bill Neal.
'The ‘Valentine
pattern’
consists mainly
of two birds
sitting facing
one another with
their beaks
touching. Huge
numbers of
Mother of Pearl
gaming counters
depict these
billing birds,
lovebirds or
doves - however
you choose to
name them - in a
roundel, as a
central
decoration
particularly
common around
1760...'
