In February we are celebrating universal love and kindness at WMODA. Romantics everywhere celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14 with heartfelt gifts. February is also American Heart Month when we are encouraged to live heart-healthy lives.

Heartfelt
In American Heart Month we raise awareness of heart disease and how to prevent it. Appropriately, February is named for the Latin word februum which means purification. One of the most unusual objects at WMODA features a glass rendition of a human heart by Paul Stankard, the flameworking master. It is one of only two paperweights which Paul made in honor of his friend who died of a heart attack. This is truly art from the heart.

Be My Valentine
The feast of the martyred Christian Saint Valentine first became associated with romantic and courtly love in the 14th century. By the 18th century Valentine’s Day had evolved into an occasion when lovers expressed their love for each other with flowers and greeting cards. One of the most popular motifs for Valentine cards is Cupid, the classical god of desire and the personification of romantic love.

Cupid’s Arrow
Cupid was known as Eros in Greek mythology and he appeared originally in art as a slender winged youth. Later in Roman times, he is more often portrayed as a chubby boy with a bow and arrow. Anybody who is shot with Cupid’s golden arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. The barb on Cupid’s silver arrow has the power to induce hate in his victims. Allegedly, Cupid is winged because lovers are flighty and likely to change their mind and boyish because love is irrational.

The Love Vase
Cupid appears on one of the spectacular pieces in the WMODA collection. The Love Vase, which stands 30 inches tall, was made for the Chicago exhibition of 1893. The finial features Cupid with a lighted torch ‘casting his net and ensnaring the blinded inhabitants of the globe, upon which a map of the American continent is depicted in gold’. The painting of the vase was by Charles Labarre who worked for Doulton’s Burslem Pottery for less than a year. He was renowned for his painting of frolicsome putti and other classical figures in the style of Sevres, the French porcelain factory where he worked also.