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Valentine card: P.14431-R

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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Valentine card

Maker(s)

Publisher: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

A framed valentine. We know from letters written by Glaisher to Catherine Parsons that she encouraged him to frame at least one of his valentines (Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 939-1985, 12th April 1925, letter to Miss Catherine Parsons: 'I quite agree about the Acton one in its box & about framing the pearl one …'.) and P.14431-R is one of four framed valentines in the Glaisher bequest. This is an ornate valentine with three-dimensional elements and a marriage scene at the centre. A top layer of embossed silver lace-paper in an elaborate design of ostrich feathers bedecked with jewels and strings of pearls is mounted on paper springs to a front of white lace-paper. The ostrich feather layer is decorated with two collages at lower left and right of embossed gold paper vase ornaments containing sprays of gold and silver paper foliage branches and white embossed roses (one missing at the left). A lace-paper framed medallion affixed at lower centre contains a lithographed motto in blue ink: 'Let us be united for ever'. A hand-coloured paper putto with flower garland, resting on a rice-paper cloud is affixed on a paper spring (now stuck down) at upper centre. Below the top layer and around the central window, the edges of a 'frame' of gilt lace-paper in the same embossed design of ostrich feathers and jewels/pearls can be seen. The central oval window is backed with a hand-coloured lithograph of a church interior. A hand-coloured paper trio of figures - minister, bride and groom - are affixed in front of the scene at lower centre, the bride and groom on a paper spring and the minister not entirely glued down, so that all three appear superimposed in front of the church altar. The interior is blank. The valentine is mounted on a secondary support of a portrait print of an old man with white hair, titled 'D ?Piffandy'. The verso of the secondary support is blank. The secondary support rests on a backing of heavy-duty board - a fragment of advertising board with an image of young girls and [...]NETT'S above. The verso of the board is covered with a sheet of dirty parcel paper, glued down.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

School or Style

British

Techniques used in production

Hand colouring
Lithography
Collage

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14431-R
Primary reference Number: 215468

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 14 February 2017 Updated: Tuesday 6 May 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Valentine card" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/215468 Accessed: 2025-12-10 21:25:34

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/215468 |title=Valentine card |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-10 21:25:34|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-215468

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<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp77/P_14431_R_1_201608_amt49_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Valentine card"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Valentine card</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

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