Chinese Papercut Spiral Notebooks

Chinese Papercut Spiral Notebooks

May 1, 2022

This month’s Artifact of the Month is eleven spiral-bound notebooks filled with Chinese paper cuts (#2014.002.001-011). These notebooks are covered in decorative paper and hold over twenty paper cuts per notebook, each with a backing of index card. The subjects range from multi-color dragons to highly detailed horses. Chinese paper cuts are called jiǎnzhǐ and serve many different traditional purposes, including decoration for homes or festivals in addition to tools for religious rites.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




Three Chinese decorative notebook covers in a row.  The first is a green dragon with pink and red highlights looking to the right. The second is a yellow cat on a purple basket looking down on a grasshopper. There is a flower and beet on the floor. The third is a big red flower.

World War II Imperial Japanese paper ration wrappers

World War II Imperial Japanese paper ration wrappers

January 1, 2022

This month’s Artifact of the Month is a collection of Imperial Japanese paper ration wrappers from World War II that were sent to the then Institute of Paper Chemistry (now Renewable Bioproducts Institute) on June 20, 1944. There are five separate pieces that are accompanied by a letter from Major James Clark in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. These paper fragments have labels and instructions printed in Japanese with handwritten notes in English about the ration manufacturers in Osaka.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




Collection of all the ration wrappers and Strange's letter
Letter on light tan paper indicating that Major Clark thought the papers to be of interest to the scholars at IP
Front of hexagonal dark tan ration at the bottom
Hexagonal back of dark tan ration wrapper at the bottom
Hexagonal light tan ration wrappers with Japanese text at the bottom
two ration wrappers (dark tan rectangular wrapper on the left and light tan octagonal wrapper on the right)
torn rectangular ration wrapper

Mapa de Carreteras y Ferrocarriles - Map of Highways and Railroads

Mapa de Carreteras y Ferrocarriles - Map of Highways and Railroads

September 1, 2021

This month’s Artifact of the Month is a Mexican road and railway map made in 1945. The Mapa de Carreteras y Ferrocarriles (Map of Highways and Railroads) is a tall, brown folded booklet with black text on the cover that unfolds into a blue map. The cover and the map itself are in Spanish with English translations. While road and town names are printed in white, the color coding of roads was done by hand, so the brushstrokes of red, yellow, green, and white paint are visible.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




Collage of the Full Map, Map Cover, and Macro Map
Brown Map cover with Mexico centered
Full Map of Mexico's Railroads and Highways
Zoom in picture of railroads and highway on the east coast of the map
Zoomed part of the map. Shows the Profile of Pan American Highway-Laredo to Guatemala Border
Zoomed bottom center part of the map
Zoomed bottom right section of the map

Rare Book: Wirecloth for Paper Mills

Rare Book: Wirecloth for Paper Mills

October 1, 2020

This month’s Artifact of the Month is from our Rare Book Library: Wirecloth for Paper Mills, published in 1925 by Rai Wire Works of the French Compagnie de Général D'électricité (aka the General Electricity Company).  


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




The cover of the book with royal blue detailing
A 3x3 grid of wire cloth samples from the book

Dandy Roll

Dandy Roll

September 1, 2020

This month’s artifact is a dandy roll.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




An image of a dandy roll on a pedestal

Book Binding Leather Roll

Book Binding Leather Roll

October 1, 2019

This month’s feature is a bookbinding leather roll tool. It is numbered in the Museum’s Collection as #1996.002.31. This tool was used in a process called ‘gold-tooling’, where gold leaf would be applied to the cover of a book. The process used an adhesive called ‘glair’ that would be smeared onto the surface of the leather, followed by the gold leaf. The gold was then coated in grease in order to hold it in place.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




An image of the entire tool at its full length depicting its long wooden handle and round metal top
An up close image depicting the detailing along the ridge of the thin metal cylinder used for gold tooling

Early Printing Press Model and Papermachine model

Early Printing Press Model and Papermachine model

September 1, 2018

This month's feature is an older papermachine, designed by Louis-Nicolas Robert in 1797, and a model of an 18th century printing press.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




Wooden model of an early printing press
Wooden model of an older papermachine

Chinese Print Seals

Chinese Print Seals

January 1, 2018

Welcome to the new year, this month's feature is a set of Chinese print seals.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




An image of the detailed end of six Chinese print seals
An up close image of the design on two Chinese print seals

Tapa Cloth Wooden Beaters

Tapa Cloth Wooden Beaters

December 1, 2017

This month's feature is a set of wooden beaters used to make tapa cloth.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




Four wooden beaters arranged vertically from largest to smallest.

Dard Hunter's Marbling Tools

Dard Hunter's Marbling Tools

October 1, 2017

This month's feature is a special collection of marbling tools.


Category:

Region of Origin:

Keywords:




A shallow wooden box containing small jars and other marbling tools, all appearing to be part of a set.