Rare Paper Cuttings Created By Schoolgirls 350 Years Ago Were Found Beneath The Floorboards Of A Historic Boarding School In London
Beneath the floorboards of the Sutton House, several decorative paper cuttings made by schoolgirls have remained intact for 350 years. The Sutton House is a historic building in London that once served as a boarding school for upper and middle-class girls in the 17th century.
The building was originally constructed for one of Henry VIII’s statesmen. Over its lifetime of 500 years, many different people have walked through its doors.
The paper cuttings, in addition to other artifacts, were recovered during renovations by the National Trust in the 1980s.
Last year, a group of volunteers finally got around to sorting and cataloging the objects. The Sutton House will display the paper cuttings to the public for the first time from July 19 through December.
It was a surprise to find that the paper cuttings had survived after all this time, especially since the material they were made from was so flimsy. According to Isabel Rosner, an expert in early modern material culture, there are only a handful of other existing examples of this kind of art.
“It’s an art form that is discussed in 17th-century domestic manuals, but there is very little material survival — three examples from 17th-century England, of which this is one,” Rosner said.
The girls’ school at Sutton House was founded in 1657. At that time, the idea of formal education for girls was relatively new. The school taught lessons in math, reading, music, and art. The girls also studied crafts like embroidery, needlework, and paper cutting.
In the 17th century, the cutting out of prints was an art form that girls practiced to show off their personal styles and talent. They were shown how to cut paper designs from a book and color them by hand. The finished results were used to decorate bowls, boxes, and more.
Researchers believe that Hannah Woolley, a 17th-century writer of books on house management, worked at the school. She was likely the first person to make a living out of publishing books.
Photocreo Bednarek – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
In her books, Woolley imparted the skills of paper cutting and described how to adorn rooms, cabinets, or stands with the paper products. She may have even personally taught paper cutting to the preteen and teenage girls at the school.
The paper discoveries included an intricately folded paper star, hand-colored cutouts of a fox, black and white cutouts of a bird, a female figure bathing, a country couple wearing clothing from the period, and a hen with pink and green embellishments.
The paper cuttings also featured unique touches from the girls who created them. For example, the pink hen was misspelled as “a Hean.”
“We have long known about the role of Sutton House as a girls’ school over its lifetime, but with few details about the classes, the pupils, or teaching,” said Kate Simpson, a senior collections officer with the National Trust.
“This discovery brings to vivid life one of the skills that pupils were taught and the painstaking process of handling, cutting, and coloring such tiny pieces of paper.”
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
More About:News