Rare watercolor ink and cut paper lovebird token, William Johnson Probably Pennsylvania, early 19th century

Alma Erb, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Fred Wichmann, New York
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, "The Fred Wichmann Collection of Pennsylvania-German Fraktur and Related Decorative Arts," June 9, 1983, lot 14

"The Pennsylvania German: His Arts and Handictafts," William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1968
"Pennsylvania folk Art," Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1974
"American Radiance: Highlights of the Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum," de Menil Gallery at Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, October 15 - December 15, 2002

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 270, fig. 230

Some minor repairs in heads of birds, otherwise in good overall condition.
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Recto, ink, outer ring: The fourteenth day of february It was my chance for to be merry First lots were cast and you I drew Kind fortunes faid it must be you As fure as grapes grow on the vine fo fure you are my valentine I chofe you from among the rest the reafon was I lov'd you best The rofes red the violets blue Carnations fweet and oa are you Kind madam it's no my defign To picture here your heart and mine; second ring: But cupid with his fatal dart Has deeply wounded my tender heart And between our hearts has fet a Crofs which make me too lament my lofs But I’m in hopes when that is gone That both our hearts will join in one I pray take pity on my pain And grant me love for love again; third ring: Believe my love my heart is just and true Have pity and don't let me die for you Pray don't think these lines were wrote for fun They're from your lover William Johnson; innermost ring: Round is the ring That hath no end fo is my love to you my friend

Round formats were especially popular in cut-work love tokens and were found in Germanic communities where they were known as Liebesbriefe, or love letters. The ownership history of this piece has long associated it with Pennsylvania, but it is unclear whether it is of Germanic origin. Stylistically it shares characteristics with Pennsylvania German decorative arts, in particular the brightly colored kissing birds and cut-work in a round format. The Anglican name and the fact that it is written in English suggest strongly that it was not made within a Germanic context. The association of birds with Valentine's Day had roots in medieval Europe, where it was believed that the mating season for birds began in mid-February. The imagery was first promulgated by Chaucer and his circle of poets in lines such as these from Parliament of Fowls (1380): "For this was on seynt Valentynes day, Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make." In large part, they were responsible for the shift of St. Valentine from Christian martyr to the patron saint of love.¹ The verses in this token refer explicitly to the tradition of drawing lots to pick a valentine for the day. Although the description of this lottery process seems to suggest an ambivalence on the part of William Johnson toward his valentine, it is actually a conventional verse that appears on other examples.² These verses were available from sources such as Thomas Sabines's The Complete Valentine Writer: or, The Young Men and Maidens Best Assistant (1783), and other chapbooks that contained appropriate sentiments that could simply be copied onto a handmade love token.³-S.C.H.

¹ Leigh Eric Schmidt, "The Fashioning of a Modern Holiday: St. Valentine's Day, 1840-1870," Winterthur Portfolio 28, no. 4 (winter 1993): 210, 215.
² Cynthia V.A. Schaffner and Susan Klein, Folk Hearts: A Celebration of the Heart Motif in American Folk Art (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984), p. 96.
³ Schmidt, "Fashioning," p. 218.