Valentine - Mechanical - flowers reveal happy messges 1870 - 1880

Curator: Looking at this riotous bouquet, I feel almost overwhelmed. There's such abundance here. Editor: It does burst forth, doesn't it? This charming, anonymous piece from the late 19th century—dated circa 1870 to 1880—is entitled "Valentine - Mechanical - flowers reveal happy messages." It's made with watercolor, drawing, and print on paper, currently housed here at the Met. To me, it speaks to Victorian sentimentality, the intricate lace border a frame for complex symbolic exchange. Curator: Symbolic exchange, yes, within very strictly policed channels, of course! Who gets to give this, who gets to receive it? These mass-produced valentines circulated rapidly, yet romance was rarely available to all, shaped by stark racial, economic, and gendered realities. Even the mechanization of its message speaks to labor and industrialization. Editor: Absolutely. These flowers certainly telegraph something. The rose for love, naturally, lily-of-the-valley for purity, and, poignantly, a band of forget-me-nots. Each element is laden with meaning intended for the recipient. Curator: What's interesting to me is the precarity inherent in coded visual languages. There's agency to be found when dominant cultures develop semiotics, as a subtle form of subversion. Editor: I see it! Perhaps a young factory worker sends it to their beloved—or another worker in a clandestine gesture of solidarity—a blooming disruption. The act of sending becomes inherently subversive. Curator: It disrupts the smooth surfaces of capitalism, absolutely. Looking closely, there's a slightly subversive "happy messges," a grammatical error on purpose? Or the lack of acknowledgment of gender identity within these messages of love. Editor: A slight slip, an invitation for misinterpretation, and an unexpected message—perhaps even liberation! The beauty of symbols lies not just in their established meanings, but in the rich possibilities when meanings are twisted, complicated, or repurposed. It highlights how people interpret art from various lenses through social interactions. Curator: This floral valentine becomes less an artifact of uncomplicated romance, and more a poignant document reflecting societal pressures, coded languages, and the ongoing struggle for agency. Editor: I think I'll carry with me the image of those intertwined messages as a reminder that emotions, while seemingly universal, are always filtered through layers of social complexity. Thank you for bringing an intersectional framework to my symbol-minded lens.