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A History of Valentine
Posted by Gill Jones on 22/01/2014
Valentine’s Day has a long history, one in which there’s been an awful lot of torturing and martyrdom, eventually leading to what we recognise today as a rather over commercialised day of celebration. We see an abundance of cards and flowers without giving much thought to how it all started.
The very beginning….
We can go back to the Roman times with the pagan fertility festival known as Lupercalia, then from AD 197 through AD 289 some serious martyring in the shape of Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome, who were prepared to die for what they believed in, and did. While imprisoned Valentine of Rome cured his jailor’s daughter from blindness and then fell in love with her, sending her a note signed “from your Valentine.”
In AD 496 Pope Gelasius declared the 14th of February as St Valentine’s Day, but it’s wasn’t romantic at this point, it was a Christian Feast Day.
It’s not until Chaucer in about AD 1382 that we got the first association with romance.
So an old story that began with violence and martyrdom was reborn as a tale of romance…
Personally, St Valentine’s Day for me should be about originality and wooing that special person without remit to a) a large bouquet of flowers and b) a large box of chocolates. Thinking outside the box is what is required and here are some gifts that would really impress, should they arrive on my doorstep.
Copper chocolate moulds
Although they’re not dated the first moulds appeared in France during the mid-eighteen hundreds. They were created from sheet copper and were often only perhaps in inch in diameter. If these don’t inspire you take prepare a chocolate feast over the Valentine’s Day celebrations then I don’t know what will.
Japanese Ivory Pagoda with immortal
Spotting this on www.antiques.co.uk made my heart do a double flip. This has to be one of the most impressive gifts you could give, I would be extremely happy to receive a pagoda. This one is Victorian and in excellent condition with only a little damage, with one finial missing.
Locomotive A5” Gauge Freelance tank locomotive
I would be quite happy to receive this as a Valentine’s Gift purely for its originality without being a train enthusiast. It’s in excellent condition and I can think of a million reasons to own one. It really is quite magnificent.
An original French minute repeating travelling clock
This would certainly make me happy if it arrived in my lap come Valentine’s Day, a sweet little travelling clock beautifully lined with an accurate minute repeater and a green leather case in which to carry. It’s also French which is in keeping with a Valentine theme, seen as they are the kings and queens of romance. Their language is full of romantic phrases and if you decide to purchase then it must come with some suitable French words.
Copeland Late Spode Savoy Print Teapot
This gorgeous teapot is in excellent condition and comes from the tail end of the 1800s. It was produced in Spodes white bone china, no chips and no cracks. Beautiful if you collect this sort of thing, and also quite beautiful if you don’t. It’s the sort of teapot you’d feel almost duty bound to show off with over tea and biscuits, although it may not be deemed appreciate due to its age. It would be quite wonderful to simply stare at it. Again, another gift I would gladly receive on St Valentine’s Day.
So there you have it. The emphasis is on imagination, effort and spontaneity, no flowers, no chocolates, (apart from the moulds) and ten out of ten for effort if you do manage to find that perfect gift. And there’s plenty to choose from on www.antique.co.uk to inspire the imagination.