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Altar of Hymen Valentine card
Publisher: Unknown
A framed valentine. We know from letters written by Glaisher to Catherine Parsons that she encouraged him to frame at least one of his valentines (Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 939-1985, 12th April 1925, letter to Miss Catherine Parsons: 'I quite agree about the Acton one in its box & about framing the pearl one …'.) and P.14431-R is one of four framed valentines in the Glaisher bequest. However, an inscription on the backboard of the frame with initials 'R.S.F.' may indicate that this valentine was bought from the bookseller, R.S. Frampton, who was a regular supplier of valentines to Glaisher during the 1920s. It is one of the earliest valentines in Glaisher's collection with only two others - P.14410-R-14 and P.14410-R-25 - on watermarked paper dated 1811. A hand-coloured wood engraving on a single sheet of wove paper. A central scene within a border of a couple standing outside clasping hands before a plinth inscribed 'Altar of Hymen', the half-draped figure of Hymen holding a flaming torch and standing on top, and a church in the background on the right. Gold tinsel sequins are affixed around the border. A verse is printed above and below the image: 'It's not the glittering toys of life / That now my mind employs, / There is a something in my breast / That better hope enjoys / Through life I'd wish to find a friend / Whose heart was chaste and true; / What happiness then this would be / Could I find these in you. / In you, I say, yes sure it is, / Whose heart's so frank and free, / So let me be your Valentine / Then happy I shall be.'. The valentine is folded back along left and right edges and glued to a secondary support of white card. A handwritten inscription in graphite (almost certainly in Glaisher's own hand) at upper centre of the secondary support: 'TOP / Watermarked on edge / of Valentine / L Tovill [sic] Mill 1811'. The watermark seems to have been incorrectly transcribed, and should read 'Tovil' rather than 'Tovill'.
Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century
Production date:
circa
AD 1811
Hand colouring
Wood engraving
Collage
Accession number: P.14432-R
Primary reference Number: 215469
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:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Altar of Hymen" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/215469 Accessed: 2024-05-06 03:07:05
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/215469
|title=Altar of Hymen
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-05-06 03:07:05|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-215469
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp77/P_14432_R_1_201608_amt49_dc2.jpg"
alt="Altar of Hymen"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Altar of Hymen</figcaption>
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</div>
Accession Number: P.14410-R-32
Accession Number: P.14410-R-39
Accession Number: ANE.1.1943
Accession Number: C.44-1961
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