Sailor's Valentine

Rating:
Summary: STUNNING!!!!!
Review: I just gave this as a gift to my sister, who's thinking about designing and making a sailor's valentine. She's THRILLED! What a wonderful book for the collector, crafter, or antique fancier. Beautifully done. Fondas identifies many of the shells used in these examples. A breathtaking volume that's sure to become a collector's item in its own right.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book for any collection
Review: John Fondas is the undisputed world's expert on Sailor's Valentines. As a collector for many years, his collection is acknolwleged as the best of its kind. What is more, his passion for shells and island living has taken John to the highest level as a designer and maker of shell jewellery and objects. Anyone who has not visited John in his shop in Bay Street (Nassau Bahamas), suitabley named GOLD, will have missed the essence of Island Living and the opportunity to meet a rare and cultured gentleman. It just doesn't get any better! This is a fabulous book which rightly takes its place on the shelf as a beautiful gift, a resource book and finally, a trubute to its author and the beauty of the natural world it so elegantly describes. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably beautiful; both guide and work of art
Review: This book is extraordinarily beautiful ... absolutely gorgeous. It is a hardcover book in the shape of an octagon; each sailor's valentine consumes a full page (so that both sides of a hinged valentine face each other, as they would in the actual valentine), so you can really see how the valentine looks. It would make a unique and gorgeous coffee table book. It would also be indispensable if you want to learn to make your own sailors' valentines, since it provide general directions, a list of the shells traditionally used, and gorgeous color photos of an unbelievable number of actual sailors' valentines. A true work of art ... I love it!

Rating:
Summary: Rare and Amazing and Beautiful...Not Just For Experts
Review: This is SUCH a cool book and one that it about a very rare and beautiful subject...sailors' valentines. Sailors' Valentines are a rare and unique artform from the mid-1800s. Perhaps made by sailors as tokens of love for wives, mothers and girlfriends and with ample evidence to support this theory, the valentines also appear to have been made for sale in Barbados, a port of call for both American and English ships. They are between 8 and 15 inches across. They are octagonal shaped wooden boxes usually made of Spanish cedar, but sometimes of mahogany. They are hinged at the side to open as a book would open. Inside, protected by glass, are incredibly detailed and colorful mosaics made of sea-shells, sometimes with sentiments spelled out, the names of the sailor artists, even in one case an erotic photograph framed by an elaborate mosaic of shells. They are, of course, highly collectable and have fetched prices as high as $35,000 a piece. Antique experts know about them but most of the rest of us have never heard of them and that is a pity.
This incredible book is such a marvel in itself, well crafted, detailed, scholarly and very beautiful. It comes in its own case which is a deep blue fabric covered octagon-shaped hinged box. The book inside is also octagon-shaped and contains the history of these remarkable treasures as well as dozens of actual size photographs in full color of the valentines themselves. There is a chart that identifies the various types of sea-shells that were used to create the valentines. The valentines are displayed on facing pages so it is as though you have actually opened one of the hinged boxes and are looking at an actual valentine as it would appear were you holding it in your own hands. I think this book will be treasured by art lovers, crafty people, romantic people, as well as by antique collectors and enthusiasts. It would make a really stunning Valentine's Day gift. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably beautiful; both guide and work of art
Review: Wash and dry your hands thoroughly before opening John Fondas's fabulous book entitled "Sailors Valentines". To open the cloth covered box and discover the eight-sided book is like having a hands-on experience with true Victorian sailors' valentines. When laid flat you can see both sides of a hinged nine inch valentine just as it would appear in your hands.

The text describing the origin of these valentines, their particular shells, rarity and beauty is accurate and very interesting. Mr Fondas has presented us with a five star book of the highest integrity.

As a maker, collector, teacher, restorer and student of early mosaic valentines, I will cherish this volumn as a most important adjunct and validation of my own work.

All who have walked the beaches, picking up shells, and taking the few special specimens home to add beauty to a dresser or porch railing will find this work romantic, and inspirational.

Rating:
Summary: Old Nautical Valentines
Review: Wash and dry your hands thoroughly before opening John Fondas's
presentation book entitled "Sailors' Valentines". To open the cloth covered box and discover the eight-sided book is like having a hands-on experience with true Victorian sailors' valentines.

When laid flat you can see both sides of a hinged nine inch valentine just as it would appear in your hands. The text describing the origin of these valentines, their particular shells, rarity and beauty, is accurate and very interesting. Mr. Fondas has presented us with a five star book of highest integrity.

As a maker, collector, teacher, restorer and student of early mosaic valentines, I will cherish this volumn as a most important adjunct to and validation of my own work

All who have walked the beaches picking up shells and taking the few special specimens home to add beauty to a dresser or porch railing will find this book romantic, inspirational, and beautiful. And, I suspect, grandma's attic will get another search. Perhaps with luck an eight-sided wooden box might be found. Enjoy.

Nancy S. Coffin