A rare 200-year-old coloured Valentine, handmade with love in 1818, offers a lesson in heartfelt romance.
The Regency Valentine harks back to a time when the art of wooing was surely at its finest. Think Jane Austen, the famous author who died in1817, and her ultimate beau Mr Darcey.
Postmarked Birmingham, 14 February 1818, the Valentine is addressed to ‘Miss M. Southam, Mr Roberts, Church Street, Birmingham’.
Poetic words of love and elegant imagery featuring doves, flowers and a burning heart melting into another combine to deliver a message from the heart. The Valentine reads:
I dreamed my heart consuming lay
On Cupid’s burning Shrine
I thought he stole my heart away
And placed it near to mine
I saw my heart begin to melt
Like ice before the fire
Till both a glow congenial felt
And mingled into one.
The Valentine, lot 164, made when George III was king, will be offered in Hansons’ October 14 Fine Art Auction, estimate £300-£500.
CLICK HERE to browse the Oct 14 Fine Art Catalogue
Auction entries invited
Entries are invited for future Fine Art Auctions. To arrange a free valuation, email Isabel Murtough: [email protected].
