Have a Heart: Recent Valentine’s Auction Highlights

Love is in the air, especially when it comes to Valentine’s collectibles featuring hearts and other symbols of endearment. To celebrate our national day of candy, flowers, and billets-doux on February 14, the Auction Daily team took a look at recent sales of heart-inspired artwork, antiques, and collectibles at auction. Here are five highlights that set the tickers aflutter!

David Kracov Heart Sculpture

On January 29, 2025, Abington Auction Gallery of Fort Lauderdale, FL sold lot #0025, David Kracov’s (American, b. 1968) Follow Your Heart – Hearts in an Arrow three-dimensional sculpture, for USD 10,710. The work had a presale estimate of $1,500 to $2,000. This 72-inch long wall sculpture was made from metal and consisted of three waving tiers of rainbow-hued hearts supported and backed by gray rods. Each heart was individually and playfully colored, some with aspirational, motivational, or positive imagery or words. 

David Kracov’s artistic talents span many mediums, including animation, clay and sculpture, and metal. His success began at an early age when his work was showcased at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts when he was only 12 years old. Today, his work can be found at the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA, the hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, and many other highly visible institutions. Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Spielberg, Matt Damon, and Kirk Douglas are Kracov collectors.

Tramp Art Heart Frame

Hearts are typical imagery on early American tramp art. On January 31, 2025, Amelia Jeffers, Auctioneers & Appraisers of Columbus, OH sold lot #0268, a tramp art heart and diamond wood frame, for $438. This circa 1900 example carried a presale estimate of $300 to $500. The rectangular-shaped frame was deeply carved with layered hearts, concentric circles, and diamonds. It was decorated with old and probably original red paint with black highlights. The verso was plain, unfinished wood.

Tramp art, which had its heyday in the United States from around the 1870s through the 1940s, was created by mostly anonymous, lay artists from found wooden objects including used shipping crates, cigar boxes, and discarded lumber. Frames for pictures and mirrors, furniture, boxes, wall pockets, and decorative items were produced in the aesthetic. Like the piece mentioned above, examples of tramp art usually feature angular carving executed with everyday pocketknives, dimensional layering secured with glue or small nails, and simple geometric shapes including hearts, stars, squares, circles, and triangles.

American Fraktur Cutwork Valentine

Eye-catching, handmade antique paper Valentines continue to catch the interest of collectors, perhaps due to their cross-category appeal. On June 14, 2024, Leland Little of Hillsborough, NC, sold lot #2112, an American Fraktur cutwork Valentine, for $562.50. This watercolor and cut-out example was framed under glass and most likely was made in Southeastern Pennsylvania around 1828. It included symbols of love and affection including hearts, figures, birds, and stars. Dated and initialed “HDK” in the center of the work, this monogram might reflect the name of the artist or recipient— or possibly both.

Fraktur refers to hand-rendered ephemera with elaborate calligraphy and illustrations that were created by Germans living in Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries. Births, deaths, marriages, and other major lifestyle events were often documented in this distinctive artistic style. It is interesting to note that German settlers in Pennsylvania celebrated Valentine’s Day, which puts some context behind this beautiful example. The Free Library of Philadelphia has an extensive collection of Fraktur artwork available for viewing and study online.

Radko Valentine’s Day Ornaments

The Christopher Radko company offers many Valentine’s Day-themed decorative items annually. On November 14, 2024, Willow Auction House of Lincoln Park, NJ, offered lot #0012, a collection of 14 Radko Valentine’s Day ornaments and garlands. Estimated at $100 to $200, the group traded hands at $608. This primarily pink, red, white, and metallic-colored collection included a variety of love birds with and without hearts, cupids, Valentine’s princesses, and other love-inspired forms.

Christopher Radko has been designing and producing fine ornaments and decorative items since the mid-1980s. The line originally featured Christmas editions but quickly expanded to include themed materials for every major holiday, including Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Halloween. Glass items, like the ones mentioned above, are produced in Poland using traditional methods, including glass blowing or molding, silvering, and hand painting. Many celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, and Oprah Winfrey, are known Radko collectors.

Sailor’s Valentine

Sailor’s valentines were a popular art form in the mid to late 1800s and often included hearts in their mosaic designs. On January 8, 2025, New England Auctions of Branford, CT sold lot #0215, an octagon-shaped sailor’s valentine, for $2,193. It had a presale estimate of $200 to $400. Housed in a wooden frame, this example was decorated in cascading layers of small seashells that formed flowers, hearts, and varying textures with their forms and colors.

Sailor’s valentines were presented to friends and family as a “souvenir” when a seaman came home after a long ocean stint. They often were in the form of an eight-sided wooden box with a glass front door that opened and closed. Their designs, usually dimensionally rendered from found sea shells, were created by gluing the shells onto fabric or newspaper that was mounted into the wooden box. Typical design themes included hearts, flora, and fauna, and those related to the ocean. Sometimes endearing words, meaningful dates, or initials were also integrated into their patterns.

Looking for more Valentine’s Day news? Check out Auction Daily’s interview with Nancy Rosin, President of the National Valentine Collectors Association and President emerita of the Ephemera Society of America.