Exquisite Mid 19th C. Watercolor Valentine with Flip Up Handwritten Fortunes snail paperweight making for a nice combination

making for a nice combination of soft silvery surface and spiky form

They were/are display/salesman sample boards showing a variety of metal (I believe largely brass) edgings for round

pleasuring kids and adults alike

spring tension catching/gripping mechanism

male and female

Exquisite Mid 19th C. Watercolor Valentine with Flip Up Handwritten Fortunes snail paperweight making for a nice combinationA 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