Cape Resident asks for help locating lost valentines.

Cape Cod resident, Lee Hill, announced today a public call to action to help search Cape and Islands art, historical, maritime or cultural institutions for a piece called a Sailor’s Valentine, the traditional shell-craft purchased and bought back by whalers at a re-supply stop in the Barbados while making their return voyages to Nantucket.

In making the request, Hill said: “The current issue of Cape Cod Magazine features two Cape Cod Sailor’s Valentine artists. Coincidently I had just finished reading the seminal book, Sailors’ Valentines…Their Journey Through Time., by local author, Grace Madeira, which includes a list of twenty of the nation’s most accomplished Sailor’s Valentine artists. To my surprise, six of the twenty were Cape residents including: Sandi Blanda, Grace Madeira, Sandy Moran, Gerda Reid,

Gregg Roberts and Bernard Woodman, now deceased.

His curiosity whetted, Hill’s discovery lead him to scour local institutions to determine whether they had Sailor’s Valentines in their collections. The following institutions spread throughout the Cape and Islands, in fact, had one: Nantucket Historical Association, Cahoon Museum of Americana Art, Cotuit Library, Gregg Roberts Studio and Gallery, Osterville Village Library, Barnstable Historical Society, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Masonic Lodge, Provincetown and the Provincetown Monument.

“It is my intention to create a comprehensive list and include it on the Cape Cod Museum Trail website sponsored by First Citizens’ Credit Union. I ask anyone with information about Sailor’s Valentine’s locations to please email me at greggrobertsdesign@gmail.com.” added Hill.