A Paper Museum Mystery with Tiffany and Crane

The Crane Museum of Papermaking opened last week for the season (Monday through Friday, 1-5 p.m.). As you can imagine, I've strolled around the exhibits hundreds of times over the years, and it finally came time the other day to seek some help on a nagging question. Why is there a set of handmade paper moulds and deckles watermarked with Tiffany and Company New York and the date anno domino 1450, along with a lance-toting horseman?

Here are the moulds and deckles in question:








There are no records in the archives giving any hint to their origins, and there are no markings to indicate their maker, so I am left to guess and to seek your thoughts.

Here's where my thinking is at the moment. Dard Hunter, the Roycroft artist and paper historian, probably had something to do with the situation. He was commissioned by the Crane family in 1929 to build this beautiful model below of the vat room at Crane's first mill, built in 1801. At the time, he was operating a handmade paper operation with his family and a couple of British papermakers out of Lime Rock, Conn.- just down the road a couple of hours. Included in the model are small hand moulds, and they were used to make small sheets of paper to help illustrate the process.

Several years ago, I noticed that these sheets had developed rust spots, so I made some new sheets with the little moulds. I learned subsequently, that Hunter had some problems with the water in Lime Rock, most notably iron



Now, let's have a look at a sample sheet made from the Tiffany mould. See those rust spots? I have to believe that this sheet was made by Hunter or his British papermakers in Lime Rock in 1929. Just too many coincidences.



But where did those moulds and deckles come from? What's their story?

Small Art Creates Big Handmade Paper Impression

I'm spending entirely too much time living vicariously. I've definitely got to get out more.

Case in point: The annual meeting of the Friends of Dard Hunter last October was in Hawaii. Think I could get there? Nope. But those who did have been kind enough to send me photos. Certainly not to rub it in......

The members' exhibit at the annual meeting called for participants to create up to three postcard-size works. Entries were required to include handmade paper, but could also involve any other media or technique.

The range of works varied from collage to pulp paintings; prints to three-dimensional origami. The techniques included in the work incorporated handmade papers with encaustic, stitching, origami, and embossing relief. The artwork featured scrolls, feathers, masks, watermarks, fabric, threads and seeds. To sum up the show, it was basically all eye candy.

Here are four of my favorites:




To see all the works, please visit me Flickr page here.

The Wedding Party: Beyond Invitations

I recently got a heads-up from Betsy Dollar, executive director of the Friends of Dard Hunter, about a new installation she has been exhibiting, and I just had to share it with you. I'm a paper geek, so I'm always ready to see something artistic using paper as a medium, especially since I have no artistic talent whatsoever.

The Wedding Party is an installation of “wearable books” consisting of 13 life-size figures. These figures are all constructed of paper, handmade by Betsy. Each figure represents a member of The Wedding Party and expresses a different view on marriage in the 21st century.

The viewer enters the room and takes the position of the individual officiating at this ceremony. A large book on the podium gives the viewer not only the ritual text, but the inner thoughts of all the wedding participants. This book is also reproduced in booklet form for viewers to carry as they take a closer look at each figure.

Each figure displays text that encapsulates their thoughts, while the book goes into greater detail. From a technical standpoint, each figure demonstrates different papermaking techniques and textures while expressing the personality of the character through clothing style and color. A majority of the papers are made from abaca fiber and are sprayed in four-foot by eight-foot sheets. Many of these papers replicate rich, yet subtle, fabric textures and patterns through new spray processes developed by the artist for this project.

You can view all the characters of The Wedding Party at Betsy's website. Betsy is looking for additional venues for this installation. If you have any ideas or would like to receive a proposal, please contact her at dreampaper@aol.com.