Valentine - Mechanical - Heart with arrow opens, image of a woman
Medium
Heavy card stock, chromolithography, narrow silk ribbon
Dimensions
Width: 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm) Length: 3 9/16 in. (9 cm)
Classification
Ephemera|Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Richard Riddell, 1981
Accession Number
1981.1136.880
Art Historical Context
This charming mechanical Valentine card, dating to around 1875, exemplifies whimsical innovations of 19th-century cards. Crafted anonymously—possibly British or American, with ties to publisher Ernest Nister—the piece a heart pierced by an arrow that cleverly to reveal a portrait of a woman. Measuring just over 3.5 inches, it's made from heavy card stock, enhanced by vibrant chromolithography—a pioneering color printing technique that brought affordable, vivid imagery to the masses—and accented with a delicate silk ribbon for pull-action movement. Chromolithography, perfected in the Victorian...