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Valentine card
Publisher: Dobbs, Henry
A hand-painted design of pink and blue flowers with detail in gold leaf, flaming hearts and a peacock at lower centre on 8vo-sized cream embossed paper with hand-painted edge in blue. An embossed neo-classical scene at the centre featuring Athena, Venus and Cupid, an embossed scroll painted in gold leaf below: BEAUTY GOVERNED BY PRUDENCE CROWNED BY VIRTUOUS LOVE. Embossed stamp at lower centre: DOBBS PATENT. A verse written by the sender on the right-hand inside page. The card has been folded several times and a hand-written address on the verso: "For / Esther Miles / No 35 Bucklersbury / City". Stamp in red ink: "T.P. / WOOD St". Postmark in red ink: "10. NOON.10 / FE.21 / 1829". Watermark: EDMEADS & CO / 1809. The discrepancy between watermark (1809) and postmark (1829) suggests either that Dobbs made large numbers of embossed blanks to be illuminated at a later date or that the firm laid in large stocks of paper which were embossed at a later date. Henry Dobbs was trading under the name Dobbs Patent from circa 1820-1838, so it seems more likely that paper made during the first decade of the nineteenth century was embossed at a later date. P.14385-R, P.14386-R, P.14410-R-8 and P.14410-R-12 have the same embossed design around the outer border. This card was included in the exhibition of valentine cards, _For ever thine: the nineteenth century valentine_, held in the Charrington Print Room at the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1995, no. 27. P.14428-R is another valentine of a similar style by Henry Dobbs which is addressed to the same recipient (although apparently to 'Hester' Miles) and postmarked 1830.
Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century
1809
-
1829
Accession number: P.14392-R
Primary reference Number: 214557
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
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IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Valentine card" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/214557 Accessed: 2024-04-25 14:32:48
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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/214557
|title=Valentine card
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-25 14:32:48|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp77/P_14392_R_1_201704_amt49_dc2.jpg"
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Valentine card</figcaption>
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Accession Number: P.14591-R
Accession Number: P.14583-R
Accession Number: P.14342-R-65
Accession Number: P.14349-R-2
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