Elizabeth Cobbold — The Monitory Lizard

A poet’s papercut: the lizard walks on the verse she wrote. Elizabeth Cobbold cut some eighty valentines a year, each scissored by hand.

The document

A cut-paper valentine, c. 1823 — white paper scissored by hand on a red ground, with her own inscribed verse. Reproduced faithfully from the original at the New York Public Library.

About the artist

Elizabeth Cobbold (1767–1824) was an Ipswich poet and naturalist who made intricate paper valentines for her annual St Valentine’s ball.

The print

Printed to order and made to last. Choose Museum Matte (heavyweight matte art paper) or Fine Art Giclée (Hahnemühle cotton paper — the archival standard). The Métrica museum caption — artist, title, date and source — is printed as part of the piece, set in our house type. Free US shipping on two or more pieces.

Elizabeth Cobbold · The Monitory Lizard, cut-paper valentine · c. 1823 · The New York Public Library · Pforzheimer Collection · Public domain.

Theme: Papercut art — a cut-paper piece by Elizabeth Cobbold.