c. 1840s Large Paper Lace Valentine with Watercolor Flower (Blank Interior) antique brass stencil The post is a separate

The post is a separate piece of wood--on which the balls can be turned on the horizontal axis--though I think likely carved from the same block

but also for the selection of words and phrases chosen for instruction--which

Guatemalan I believe

which is still rough and ready to do the job

I had a lot of fun posing this wonderful fellow

c. 1840s Large Paper Lace Valentine with Watercolor Flower (Blank Interior) antique brass stencil The post is a separateA handful of Victorian paper lace valentines today, because 'tis almost the season, and what a lovely thing to give to a beloved, including oneself. I'm fussy about ones I like, choosing these several from more than a hundred 19th c. examples I had the joy of perusing last weekend which had been collected over many years by a major Maine based paper dealer (who made notes on the envelopes of some, dating this one to the late 1840s) whose collection