c. 1840s Large Paper Lace Valentine with Watercolor Flower (Blank Interior) wooden cat bookend and I am certain that

and I am certain that it is by a Brazilian folk artist

" There was a handwritten attribution on the back of the matte on which this was mounted

Very bright and crisp and lovely

Big black eyes outlined in white with long eyelashes and then long white whiskers pointing toward the colorful ball at the tip of its nose

who notes he's only seen a couple

c. 1840s Large Paper Lace Valentine with Watercolor Flower (Blank Interior) wooden cat bookend and I am certain thatA 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