This vintage Valentine’s image was originally used as a page spacer to add some interest and white space between book chapters. With a Cupid – like cherub sitting in a pair of wedding rings on a branch with a pair of love birds (or perhaps doves), it seems like this drawing from over 130 years ago would be great for a Valentine’s Day card or other holiday project.
It was included in the book Ballads of Beauty which was published in 1878.
Maybe it’s just me but the drawing does seem a little weird. Cupid looks a bit like he is swinging on a swing and yet the pair of birds sit on one side of the branch and a larger bird with a pointed beak is sitting on the other. I wonder if the larger bird is supposed to be a stork; as in the stork who brings babies to happy couples. He’s a bit small for that but the beak is right.
Anyway, this drawing of Cupid with birds and rings is certainly something that could lead to interesting conversations.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
