For all you romantics out there, the impending excitement of Valentine’s Day is doubtless at the front of your minds right now. But you should also know that it is an exciting theme for collectors, because vintage Valentine cards have all the attributes required for attracting them, and some can sell for hundreds of pounds.
Legend has it that the first Valentine message was sent in the 15th century, but the first cards arrived with the dawn of the modern postal service in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest known printed Valentine’s card dates to 1797 and was published on January 12 that year by John Fairburn of 146 Minories, London. It depicted a young woman in a landscape setting at the centre, surrounded by cupids, flowers, birds and other symbols of love, as well as messages. In 2013, that made a creditable £450 at auction.
Elaborate cards decorated with lace and ribbons – and even some with moving parts – demanded a considerable outlay on the part of the purchaser. Most popular were the ‘marionette’ cards, with their paper dolls with moving limbs, created by Raphael Tuck, who worked under Royal Warrant.
Celebrated artists and illustrators of the day were drafted in to create designs which collectors seek out now, among them children’s author Kate Greenaway.
The Museum of London has a collection of more than 1700 Valentine’s cards.
It’s staggering to think that by mid Victorian times, the Valentine industry in Britain was so huge that it is thought the public spent hundreds of millions of pounds a year on cards and gifts for their loved ones. Today it is well over £1.5 billion in the UK.
The United States dwarfs that figure, generating almost $15 billion worth of retail sales each year. To put it in context, that is around a quarter to a third of the value of the entire global art market – auctions, dealer and gallery sales, fairs, private deals and so on.
Back in 2003, a Valentine card sent by Princess Diana sold for ten times its estimate at £2000, while in 2012 one sent by Amy Winehouse made £1600.
