Forget Me Not (valentine)
1860/69
Medium
Collaged elements on cut and embossed (designed) ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Folded sheet: 6.1 × 8.1 cm (2 7/16 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
collage
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
128985
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, the Victorian era's peak of romantic sentimentality, Thomas Wood crafted *Forget Me Not (val)* around 1860–69. This delicate collage exemplifies the era's popular handmade love tokens, exchanged on Valentine's Day to convey enduring affection. Tucked into the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings collection, its diminutive folded size— just 6.1 × 8.1 cm—suggests it was designed as an intimate, portable missive, unfolding to reveal layered surprises. Wood employed intricate techniques on ivory wove paper: collaged elements combined with precise cutting and embossi...