Metallic Double Cobweb Valentine
Medium
Lithography, watercolor, metallic paper on embossed paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 1/16 × 7 5/16 in. (23 × 18.5 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
1981.1136.547
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of Victorian romance with *Metallic Double Cobweb Valentine*, an enchanting 1845 print from anonymous British hands. Created during the peak of Valentine's Day fervor in 19th-century Britain, ephemera captures the era's obsession with sentimental greetings. Mass-produced yet delicately personalized, such cards flooded postboxes as literacy rose and printing innovations made affection affordable for sweethearts across classes. Measuring a dainty 9 1/16 × 7 5/16 inches, it likely features ethereal girls and fairies—evoked by its tags—dancing amid intricate, web-like...