Small c. 1840s Paper Lace Valentine with (Much Faded) Handwritten Message and Original Envelop old wooden blocks which is what I love

which is what I love about them--the most pared down (and I think very elegant) solutions to the task

so the first bunch of photos

I presume this is an American folk art piece (making me think a bit of the work of Moses Ogden)

then animated with some incising for the winds and tail feathers and an eye applied to either side of the head

I think a Bird of Paradise or two would be just about right

Small c. 1840s Paper Lace Valentine with (Much Faded) Handwritten Message and Original Envelop old wooden blocks which is what I loveI will continue to scoop good early paper lace valentines whenever I find them because I love them, and you seem to, too. This is a lovely small folded one, c. 1840s, with a handwritten message inside, though the ink is much faded and hard to read. And with what I presume is the envelop it was originally delivered in larger than it, but it is pretty rare to find such a small valentine! Addressed to an Andrew Cobb of Parsippany, NJ. Valentine: 2 11 16"