Images(2)

Cutwork Valentine

Date1753

Artist W. Chandler (active 1753)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (probably)

MediumWatercolor and ink on laid paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 13in. (33cm) and Framed (Modern repro added in 2008): 18 x 18 3/16 x 1in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1957.306.1

DescriptionThe artwork is cut paper of a circular format with watercolor and ink designs and inscriptions. The outermost edging is pinked and colored yellow. Within this is a border about 1 3/8-inches wide divided into four equal quadrants by "spokes" radiating from the center; each has a red heart with yellow arrows sticking out of it in the center, flanked by two full-blown flower blooms and two cupids, all surrounded by lacy, green-colored cutwork.
Closer to center, each of the four quadrants is further intersected by "spokes" forming eight pie-shaped wedges. These bear inscriptions within outer pinked arcs, or edges, and within smaller inner pinked arcs. Flowers, hearts, touching hands, and lacy cutwork fill the interstices. Dominant colors are brick red, pink, yellow, mint green, light green, and blue-green. Interior details of the hands and cupids are executed in ink or gray watercolor.
A late 19th-century, 2-inch, black-painted, reeded, flat frame with gilded inner and outer edges was received on the piece in 1957; this was removed and replaced with a modern reproduction in 2008: a 1 1/4-inch black-painted molded cyma reversa frame.
Label TextThe sixteen numbered verses inscribed on the pinked arcs of the face of this piece are a tribute to "E. S.," who has long been identified by verbal tradition and by an old label as Elizabeth Sandwith (1735-1807). On January 13, 1761, Elizabeth married a fellow Philadelphia Quaker, Henry Drinker (1734-1809), and it was once thought that the latter made the valentine. However, partially obliterated inscriptions on both front and back indicate that another suitor of Elizabeth's fashioned the love token instead.

Elizabeth Sandwith's cutwork valentine descended through the family for many years prior to its ownership by Mr. and Mrs. John Law Robertson. It is an important survival because of its fine quality and because it is one of the earliest of its type known to scholars. The artist used the popular motifs of hearts, tulips, and other flowers to create his token of affection. The central portion of the greeting, as well as the flowers and hearts, is painted red, while the tulips and the various bands and borders are in shades of red, green, and yellow.

For its period, the valentine is also an exceptionally intricate example of "Scherenschnitt," or scissor cutting," which required considerable skill in both the cutting away of paper and the layout of the designs prior to cutting. The small cupid figures with bows flanking four of the intersecting bands that radiate from the center are the most unusual motifs, while the elaborate foliage that fills the outer band is reminiscent of similar leafage seen on early frakturs.
InscribedIn ink in script at the center of the front of the piece is the largely obliterated name "W[illegible material]" over the date "1753". In ink in the interior scallops, the script reads: "1/This morning as I lay in bed/2/Engag'd in thoughtfull muse,/3/It gently came into my head/4/A Valentine to choose,/5/Swift as the fleeting thts [thoughts] of man/6/My roving fancy flew,/7/And of bright nymphs a numero/=us clan/8/Presented to my view."
In the interior white band spanning the circumference of the piece, in ink, is inscribed: "9/Long time in deep suspence [sic] I stood/Before I gave my voice,/10/At length resolv[']d this fair one should/Determinate my choice,/11/One quite averse to envious hate,/Hypocrisy and pride,/12/In all the methods of deceit/And calumny untry'd,/13/But all my searches were in vain,/Without the least exception,/14/For none among the blooming train/Wou'd answer the description[.]/15/Despairing of success I cry'd/Not one this title bless ---/16/There is my friendly muse reply'd/Her name it is: E S:".
In ink in script on the reverse of one of the pinked inner rims of the valentine is "[illeg.] Chand[illeg.] to" and, opposite this, is: "E: S: February 14, 1753".
An old, torn, and cropped paper label that has been detached but still accompanies the valentine reads in ink in script: "[illeg.]al Valentine/sent to/Miss Elizabeth Sandwith/Feb 14th 1753/She was afterward wife of Henry Drinker and mother of Sarah Sandwith Drinker who/married Jacob Downing./Lent by [remainder now missing]."
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. John Law Robertson, Scranton and Montrose, Pennsylvania; M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY.