Details
ESTHER HOWLAND & GEORGE WHITNEY
Two cameo embossed and pierced paperlace valentine cards, one possibly by George Whitney, the other possibly by Esther Howland depicting an amorous couple walking in a leafy glade with a church in the distance, the central medallion with a hand-coloured garland of roses on a satin background, with gilded birds, the Temple of Love and Cupid firing a heart placed on a pedastal, the printed verse reads 'Ask not if still I love/Too well thine eyes have told thee/And these few words may prove/How near and dear I hold thee', 8 x 6½in., c. 1866-70. (2)
Two cameo embossed and pierced paperlace valentine cards, one possibly by George Whitney, the other possibly by Esther Howland depicting an amorous couple walking in a leafy glade with a church in the distance, the central medallion with a hand-coloured garland of roses on a satin background, with gilded birds, the Temple of Love and Cupid firing a heart placed on a pedastal, the printed verse reads 'Ask not if still I love/Too well thine eyes have told thee/And these few words may prove/How near and dear I hold thee', 8 x 6½in., c. 1866-70. (2)
Literature
Cf. 'The Valentine and it's Origins', Frank Staff, p. 94, Illustration 118.