Beschreibung:

Collection of "Vinegar Valentines" (comic insulting cards) comprising: folded paper lace card, c.1870, central design depicting "stuffed" lady in taxidermy dome (chromolithographic face, fabric dress, embossed paper leaves and real grasses), accompanying verse, 'My late dear Wife, preserved in a glass case, She was such a darling Pet that I had her stuffed, Will you be my second?'; mechanical hand-coloured lithographic card by Wood c.1860, the pull-tab making the "Champagne Charley swell" take his cigar from his mouth; a similar mechanical card by Wood, this time depicting a suffering father feeding his baby (pull-tab raises and lowers the feeding spoon); a crudely printed and hand-coloured card, c.1850, depicting pretty woman in pink crinoline (the inside of the card revealing that the crinoline "cage" is hiding how 'skinny' she is), inscribed in black ink verso, 'Received from Dover to day hope Father and you are well & the boat got safe goodbye'; folding card with hand-coloured lithographic depiction of various beautifying accessories, accompanying verse, 'Tis all in vain your simpering looks, You never can incline, With all your bustles, stays, and curls, To find a Valentine' (5) Artist name: Sculpture description: Artist introduction: