Historic Paper Descriptions
This collection of papers were brought to the shop in light of their unique historic qualities. See below for descriptions of each historic sheet.
Find them in the shop here.
Grey/Blue Handmade Wove Paper
Circa 18th 19th century
From a volume used to press flowers. Book appears to have seen little use. Sheets were folded in half with deckled edges. Watermark reads “M F Delan A Voie”
Approx 17” x 21”
Twinrocker Paper, Indiana
Circa 1995
Natural Sheet I, 21.5” x 29.5”
White Sheet II, 18” x 24” (pictured)
Hayle Mill, Kent
Circa 1950-80
Cream, 20” x 25”
Watermarked “British Hand Made” and produced at Hayle Mill Kent.
J. Whatman
Circa 1890-1960s
White, 19.5” x 24”
Made variously from linen and cotton rag, this paper is gelatin sized and of high quality.
J Whatman, 1951
Circa 1951
White, 19” x 24”
Deckled edge sheets
WHS (W.S. Hodgkinson) & Co / British Handmade
Circa 1972
White, 14” x 18”
W.S. Hodgkinson & Co were based at Wookey Hole, England. The mill closed in 1972. This paper is no longer available and these remaining sheets are quite rare.
J. Barcham Green, Hayle Mill
Circa 1960/70’s
Heavy weight hard pressed deckled watercolor handmade paper.
Some inclusions, 20” x 25”
Off white, 20” x 25.5” (pictured)
The Green family were engaged in papermaking from the end of the 17th century until 1987 when manufacture ceased. John Green purchased Hayle Mill in Kent around 1815. Samual Green, his brother, took over in 1839, and Samuel’s son, John Barcham Green, ran the mill from 1852. His son Herbert carried on until 1940, when John Barchman Breen (II) took over and converted the firm to a limited company. The Mill was run as J Barcham Green Ltd from about 1940 replacing the old J Green & Son partnership, although some papers were made with the J Green & Son watermark until the 1960s. Remy John Barcham Green, and finally Simon Barcham Green, ran Barcham Green & Company Ltd until they closed in 1987.
Richard Bas Auvergne a la Main
Circa 1326
Cream deckled edge sheets
16” x 23”
The small town of Ambert in the region of Auvergne bears the most ancient witness to the origins of the paper industry in Europe: the Richard de Bas mill. This industrial site was one of the first mills founded in the Auvergne region at the beginning of the 15th century. With some interruptions over its five century history, papermaking activity was restarted in October 1942 without any major changes. The paper produced today is aimed at books of bibliophiles, for printing, engravings and lithographs. Richard De Bas is one of the few mills in Europe still producing paper as the ancient Arab mills of Asia Minor did, which reproduced the ancient Chinese techniques.