Physical description

Valentine, showing a man and a woman in an embrace, the man in a cutaway coat with waistcoat and long trousers, long sideburns and curled hair, the woman in a pink satin dress with flared sleeves.

Place of Origin

Britain (made)

Date

c.1860 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (artist)

Materials and Techniques

hand-coloured wood engraving

Descriptive line

Valentine by unknown artist; 'May our affections ripen into joy...'; c.1860; wood engraving, coloured by hand

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1953 London: HMSO, 1963

Labels and date

ANONYMOUS
Valentines:

Squall away... 1840-50
Published by A. Park, London
Wood engraving and letterpress, coloured by hand
E.1635-1948
Given by C. Tomrley

I wander'd by the green-wood side 1830
Printed and published by J. Wrigley, Manchester
Wood engraving with stencil colouring, decorative border and
letterpess
E.2072-1953
Bequest of Guy Tristram Little

May our affections ripen into joy... 1860
Wood engraving, coloured by hand
E.2054-1953
Bequest of Guy Tristram Little

With the advent of the Penny Post the valentine card business
flourished. In the 1840s it was possible to buy expensive cut-lace
and embossed cards, or cheaper folded sheets with simple wood
engraved imagery, often roughly coloured with stencils. Amongst
the cheaper cards, comic valentines were particularly popular, often
echoing the cruel satirical humour of the Cruikshank brothers who
had produced some of the earliest comic valentines in the 1820s.
Generally the wood engravers remain anonymous but the cards
provided much work both in London and other large towns. []

Materials

Card; Printing ink; Watercolour

Techniques

Wood-engraving; Hand-colouring

Categories

Romance; Greeting cards; Prints; Men's clothes; Women's clothes; Hair and hairstyles

Collection

Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection