Valentine
before 1880
Medium
White card stock with chromolithography, gold lithography, openwork lace paper, pink paper, dark red watercolor
Dimensions
Width: 5 15/16 in. (15.1 cm) Length: 7 1/2 in. (19 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
1981.1136.825
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sentimental world of Victorian romance with *Valentine*, an anonymousolithograph greeting card crafted before 1880. Measuring a delicate 5 15/16 by 7 1/2 inches, this ephemera masterpiece from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Drawings and Prints department features white card stock adorned with vibrant chromolithography—a pioneering 19th-century color printing technique that allowed mass production of intricate, multi-hued designs. Gold lithography a luxurious shimmer, while openwork lace paper, pink accents, and dark red watercolor the era's passion for elaborate ornamentation. P...
About the Artist
Anonymous
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...