Cutwork Valentine made for Grace Worthington Doan (1788-1852)

Dateca. 1812

Possibly by Jonathan Doan

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Bucks County (possibly)

MediumInk on scissor-cut paper

DimensionsFramed: 13 1/2in. (34.3cm)

Credit LineGift of Beatrix T. Rumford

Object number2020.306.2

DescriptionFramed cutwork valentine with 16 hearts cut into the paper.
Label TextAccording to family history, this sweet love token is believed to have been given to Grandmother Grace Doan about 1812. Grace Worthington Doan was the wife of Jonathan Doan of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The couple were members of the nearby Quaker meeting house and raised several children on their family farm. If the circa 1812 date is to be believed, the valentine was probably presented to Grace by her husband as they were already married with 2 children by then.
InscribedThe valentine is divided into 8 sections, each inscribed along the outside border with the following:
"1st On the fourteenth Day of February,/ It was my lot for to be merry,
2nd The first lots we cast and them we drew; / Kind fortune says it must be you,
3rd I chose you out from among the rest, / The reason was I loved you best,
4th As sure as grapes grow on the vine, / So sure you are my Valentine,
5th The rose is red the violet blue, / Carnations sweet and so are you,
6th I pray sweetheart don’t take amiss, / I make so bold to send you this,
7th And if you take it in good part, / The next shall be my hand & heart,
8th But if you take it in g disdain, / Return the same to me g again."

MarkingsAn old framing label that is no longer attached to the piece was given with the object. The typed label reads "FINE ART PICTURES/ AND FRAMING/ JOHN WANAMAKER, /PHILA. NEW YORK/ PARIS/ No. 4759 (handwritten)/ Sales/ Sch./ Date". In black ballpoint pen at the top, someone has added "Valentine sent/ to Grandmother Grace/ Doan - about 1812/ Elizabeth Firman James". At the bottom of the label, in blue ballpoint pen, someone has added, "Given to EEC/ from Roy Kister/ March 7, 1971".
ProvenanceBy 1852, by inheritence to the recipient's daughter, Hannah Doan [1826-1912] (Bucks Co., PA); By 1912, by inheritence to her daughter Elizabeth Firman James [1868-1954] (Bucks Co., PA); By 1954, by inheritence to her daughter, Marie H. James Kister [1893-1968] (Bucks Co., PA); 1972, as a gift from Marie Kister's husband, Henry LeRoy Kister to her friend, Emily E. Clymer [1914-2005] (Bucks Co., PA); 2005, by inheritence to her niece, Beatrix Tyson Rumford [1939-2021] (Lexington, VA); 2020, by donation to the Colonial Williamsburg Fountion (Williamsburg, VA)