Creekside Art Gallery Blog

1800 Years of Paper Mache History

An insatiable European appetite and search for new and innovative art and decoration enthusiastically embraced the adoption of paper mache as an expressive material. Hardened paper became an inexpensive substitute for wood; and, it was just as easily polychromed and gilded. In the 17^th century, strong markets for paper mache products existed in both England and France. During that period, English artisans experimented with paper mache to produce various types of furniture as well as dimensional embellishments for application to architecture. By 1750, English paper-ware factories were busy keeping up with the demand. George Jackson is recognized as one of the first Englishmen (circa 1756) to carve boxwood molds to manufacture paper mache forms; his were concave or carved in reverse to receive wet pulp. About that time "japanning" became popular. It was a highly decorative painting technique which also helped strengthen and preserve paper objets d’art. Then Germany in the 18^th century and Russia in the first half of the 19^th century became active manufacturers and consumers of a wide assortment of paper mache items. One example of the high level of acceptance and respect for quality paper mache is illustrated by the English firm of Jennens and Bettridge’s gift of a set of elaborately decorated trays to Queen Victoria as a wedding present in 1840. Queen Mary was an active collector of paper mache objects, later donating them to several museums. Her Majesty the Queen of Spain was another Jennens and Bettridge client as were English Kings George IV and William IV. The Great English Exhibition of 1851 featured a tremendous diversity of fanciful paper mache items including an entire suite of furniture. Such works often reflected existing interests in Far Eastern decorative arts. More »