17th Century Paper Cutting Found Under Floorboards – History

Miniature printed paper figures cut out by 17th-century schoolgirls were discovered beneath the floorboards of Sutton House in Hackney, east London, and are now on display for the first time. The cutouts were discovered during the restoration of the Tudor manor house in the 1980s, but they were mixed in with hundreds of other papers, fragments of textiles, bones, rubble and various debris. It had all been stored away and not catalogued.

Last year, volunteers took on the daunting task of looking through bags and bags of miscellanea piled under the floor. The smallest items are paper cutouts. Paper cutouts became a hobby in England in the late 17th century, but few early cutouts survive. There are eight pieces in the collection, including a folded paper star, a hand-colored red fox, a woman bathing, a hen adorned with green and pink silk, a black and white bird and a couple in country clothes.

In the 17th century, cut-out printmaking was an art form usually practised by girls or women, a skill they used to demonstrate taste and dexterity. Origami (as exemplified by the small stars found at Sutton Hall) was an increasingly popular European fashion, particularly for the elaborate folding of napkins when entertaining guests.

The school teaches girls paper cutting and other crafts, such as embroidery and needlework. Girls can use small scissors, knives or even pins to cut out patterns from books and then hand-color them to decorate boxes and other items. […]

Dr Isabella Rosner, an expert in early modern material culture, has identified the Sutton House papercut as being almost identical to two other known surviving papercuts, one of which is a decorated box dating from the 1680s, now in the collection of Witney Antiques in Oxfordshire.

She explains: “During the 17th century, various household management books for women featured paper cutting as a theme, notably Hannah Woolley’s A Lady’s Guide (1668) and A Queen’s Wardrobe Replenishment (1674). She describes ‘cutting out prints, and embellishing rooms, cupboards, or shelves with them’ as a skill ‘which I will teach to such as are desirous of learning’.”

Originally built in 1535 by Ralph Sadler, an aide to Thomas Cromwell and diplomat to Henry VIII’s sister Margaret Tudor, this brick house is one of the few remaining Tudor homes in London. It was a school for girls from 1657 and remained an educational institution until 1875.

The cutouts are currently on display at Sutton House and will remain on display until December.