Victorian Valentine Card with Cherub Iris Flower 1890s

A pale child's rosy-cheeked face emerges directly from the throat of a purple iris bloom, its blonde head framed by the upper petals like a bonnet from hell—and in Victorian-era America, someone looked at this and thought: yes, this is romance. A tiny, wingless-looking cupid drifts in the upper right corner trailing a ribbon, presumably fleeing the scene, while a red heart at the bottom seems placed there to remind you this is supposed to be erotic, which only makes the plant-child's knowing, contented expression more deeply troubling.