Josie's C. 1850s Victorian Die Cut Valentine in Period Frame, Dayton, Ohio dog show award At turns inspiring

At turns inspiring

To my eye just completely charming

but everything else seems to be in place

making one think the left one must have had some other use

I am not certain the age of this piece but know it has been held in a folk art collection for at least the past 25 years

Josie's C. 1850s Victorian Die Cut Valentine in Period Frame, Dayton, Ohio dog show award At turns inspiringI tend to pass over Victorian die cut creations in favor of hand drawn ones, but this early Valentine., c. 1850s or so, feels as much the latter as the former, and I think is just wonderful. It appears to have been made for a Josie Millie __ (?) of Dayton Ohio, with her name written several times in pencil inside the heart constructed of many bits of die cut greenery and flowers. Then below, several lines of a poem, the first two of which one can