Forever Valentines
Photo by Alice Gao for Garden & Gun Magzine
"It was love at first sight,"
Amanda recalls upon seeing her very first Sailor's Valentine 25 years ago. "My best friend, John Fondas, started manically collecting them, and ultimately produced a beautiful collector's book, Sailors' Valentines. I helped him write it during an all-nighter, me at the desktop in my bedroom, John laying on a pile of pillows atop our bed dictating, and my beloved Orjan snoring at his side. How romantic is that?"
Legend has it that 19th-century British sailors passed the time on long voyages from the Caribbean by piecing hundreds of gloriously colored seashells into intricate mosaics to give their sweethearts back home.
Truth be told, there was a little Victorian-era "tourist shop" in Bridgetown, Barbados frequented by souvenir-hunting sailors that was probably the source for most of the original Sailors' Valentines that found their way back to England and America.
"But with Valentine's Day fast approaching, I'd much rather believe in the romance of long sea voyages and rugged sailors creating these uniquely beautiful pieces while longing for love and home," Amanda says. "Wouldn't you?"
Like the 19th century originals, Amanda's Sailors' Valentines are meticulously handmade with hundreds of seashells set into intricate mosaics blooming with fresh Caribbean color. Each comes framed in an octagonal mahogany wood box with a protective glass front. It's a Valentine's Day gift you'll love for a lifetime.
