As you surely know by now, I'm forever drawn to 19th century cut paper love tokens and the like, and very much to beautifully inked calligraphic lettering too--so of course I jumped on this one. One sees decorated paper rounds like this--made like snowflakes, by folding then cutting--usually described as valentines, and the best of them decorated with hand-written poetic verses, or watercolored flowers, etc.--but this is the first I've seen with German fraktur writing, and a lot of it! My German in non-existent, but I tried, to the best of my ability, translating just a little of the text on this one, coming up with phrases including "may peace surround you," "this is your dream" and something along the lines of "peace of heart left")-- and so I believe this to be a wheel of wishes of sorts, or perhaps even a sort of paper fortune teller, with each segment delivering a different wish/message, or perhaps even fate. It is signed by an Annette, April 20, and what looks like 1875 (I would have guessed earlier, perhaps that 7 is a 4?) A perfect gift for a German speaking lover of old paper craft I'd say, and just a lovely and special feeling thing all the way around.
11 3/4" in diameter and in very good antique condition, ink strong and clear, and no tears or losses at all.