Exquisite Mid 19th C. Watercolor Valentine with Flip Up Handwritten Fortunes carved spinner or maybe its just that

or maybe its just that there is so much marvelous color out there to be appreciated

with some dryness to the wood and a little wear to the paint

great old paint

Though I suppose it's possible she's got a bucket of paint in hand

While quintessentially mid-century

Exquisite Mid 19th C. Watercolor Valentine with Flip Up Handwritten Fortunes carved spinner or maybe its just thatA rare and special thing this one, a fortune telling valentine of sorts, which I purchased from a great paper dealer in Pennsylvania, who had kept it in his personal collection for some years. A gorgeous watercolor taken at face value, but under most every leaf and bloom is a hidden message, revealed when one flips that bit up (and so a pretty intricate work of cut paper, too.) I especially love the fact that many of those messages are the opposite of