Simon Barcham Green's Papermaking Moulds

Featured Moulds 14 - M222 Very tired laid moulds

There is nothing special about these moulds apart from their really poor condition! These pictures show various aspects of deterioration due to wear and tear and it is rather surprising that we have kept them for over 110 years. Made by E Amies & Son in July 1900.

Several laid lines are completely missing due to the sewing wires having failed.

 

One corner of the deckle is opening up fracturing the brass covering. The corner joints are subject to substantial stresses as the moulds twist slight in use and these areas are also vulnerable to rot.

Wooden support for ribs; this probably means that the ribs are broken or rotted where they enter the frame. 

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission.

 

Featured Moulds 13 - M221 Bull's Head on very coarse wove

These moulds are very unusual and hard to interpret. The Bull featured in many watermarks dating back to 1500 and earlier, in many variations. Note that the watermark wire has been flattened between rollers. However this mark would of course have been on laid rather than wove papers in mediaeval times. The wove wire is extraordinarily coarse - the wires are about 3 mm apart which could have caused difficulty retaining the fibre.  Presumably this heavy wiremark was a design feature.  The tearing wires divide each sheet into a suitable size for stationery. The moulds were made by E Amies & Son (date unknown). 

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

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Larger picture display

As you should notice from the reformatted post below, the very helpful support team at TypePad have shown me how to display the photos in a larger size. This should suit most of you but there may be a downside in a few cases.  If your browser does not display the site to the full width of your screen or if you choose not to maximise the window size then you may find the picture is cropped. You can still access the full size image by double clicking on it. I am not planning to change all the old posts at present as I would rather spend the time available uploading additional moulds. The next one M221 is very curious.

If you find this gives you a problem please let me know and if enough people ask me to change back then I will do so.

It will be very helpful if you can tell me your views on this change - positive or negative - by clinking on "Comments" below.

Featured Moulds 12 - M220 F J Head & mediaeval marks

These moulds were used to illustrate a number of mediaeval watermarks, some of which were used in the F J Head range of papers. One mould carries all these watermarks. The second mould has no watermarks.

To see all of the dozen or more watermarks on this mould go to the album

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

 

Contacting me

The two best ways of contacting me are:

• Either use the email link to the right (i.e. at [email protected])  or even better
• Use the comment feature in the relevant post to make suggestions or ask questions about information and photos in the post. This will ensure that everyone sees your comments and suggestions and my replies.

I don't use the gmail address that appears in subscription notifications for normal mail although I will now check it once a week.

By the way there are now 52 subscribers to the blog who automatically get all new posts and, here's the good news, the images are much bigger on the screen. TypePad are still trying to help me display larger images on the site but we haven't quite got there yet.

Featured Moulds 11 - M219 T S Pattison watermark removed

These moulds are interesting because the laid cloth runs "the wrong way". Normally the laid lines run parallel to the long sides and the chain lines run parallel to the short sides which are those usually held by the vatman when dipping into the vat. In this case the laid lines run parallel to the short sides. Reinforcement of the long sides with brass suggests these were the sides held by the vatman.  There is a mark on the wires of a watermark "T S Pattison" which has been removed and it may be that the layout required by the customer led to this arrangement. The moulds were made by E Amies (no son mentioned) on an unknown date.

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

Featured Moulds 10 - M218 J Whatman 1921 laid

This is a fairly straightforward double faced laid Whatman pair of moulds made by W Green Son & Waite (date unknown). The brighter bands are probably caused by optical interference between the two layers of laid wire.

The watermark of the Fleur de Lys relates to the sheet size

The countermark shown here is a subsidiary watermark, usually indicating the maker's name and date

This back view of the mould shows a split in one of the ribs. This form of damage is not uncommon and does not prevent the mould being used. Normally the damage would be bound with phosphor bronze wire to strengthen it but this mould may not have been used since the damage occurred.

This view also shows how the face and backing wires are sewn down onto the ribs; close inspection reveals both layers of wire.

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

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Featured Moulds 9 - M217 The Chartered Bank

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (or simply The Chartered Bank) was a bank incorporated by Royal Charter in London in 1853 by  James Wilson. It opened its first branches in 1858 in Calcutta and Bombay and then Shanghai. The company changed its name to the Chartered Bank in 1956. Following a few acquisitions it was renamed  Standard and Chartered in 1969 when merged with the Standard Bank of South Africa, later becoming Standard Chartered - see http://www.standardchartered.com/about-us/history/app/index.html

These moulds were made by E Amies & Son in 9/1857 - very soon after the bank was formed. Note the watermark is for the abbreviated name. I also have a pair made in 1921 with the full name (see M251). These are a very good example of the art of watermarking. The letters are debossed into the wove wire which makes the paper thicker and look darker. In addition wire is sewn to the edges of parts of the letters to provide highlighting. The paper was probably used for the bank's share certificates. 

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

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Featured Moulds 8 - M216 Ribbed, embossed wove moulds

At first sight these moulds look dull but the ribbed, embossed  wove surface is unique in the collection. This seems like a bit too large an area to emboss in a platen press so it may have involved putting through a pair of embossed rollers - quite a high set up cost. Applied line watermarks will also show as rulings. There is no indication of who made the moulds or when or for whom. Yes, I know one picture is slightly out of focus. 

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

 

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Featured Moulds 7 - M215 J D & device

These moulds were made by Green, Son & Waite (date unknown) and I have no idea of the meaning of the watermark or who the customer was. 

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

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Featured Moulds 2 - M207 Waterlow & Sons Ltd London

This fine pair of two sheet moulds with exceptionally beautiful watermarks is something of a mystery. Made by Edwin Amies & Son in June 1894 for the security printers Waterlow & Sons Ltd. Each sheet carries Waterlow's name and an oval device of a snake with its tail in its mouth (an ouroboros - see http://www.ireference.ca/search/Ouroboros/) surrounding a bundle of twigs which I initially thought resembled asparagus tips. I have been unable to find out the meaning of this device or its significance to Waterlows. The Ouroboros symbol appears in both 14th-15th century Albigensian printing watermarks and is also worked into the pip cards of many early (14th-15th century) playing cards, including Tarot cards. The twigs could be "wands" as used in tarot cards or parhaps the image refers to ancient West Country customs - see http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/christ_fagg.htm

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

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Papermaking at Hayle Mill in 1976

I have just uploaded a film made by Anglia TV in 1976 which explains just how the paper was made and it has a good section showing an intricate watermark being made and fitted. To view click here. 

Featured Moulds 5 - M211 Smith & Allnutt 1899 36 Ruled

These two sheet wove moulds seem to have been used to make minute paper. The ruled watermark lines would be sufficiently visible on the surface of the wire side of the sheet for the minute writer to align their writing accurately. Smith & Allnutt originally owned Little Ivy Mill, Great Ivy Mill and Lower Tovil Mill (1/2 mile upstream, 1/4 mile upstream and 1/2 mile downstream of Hayle Mill respectively). After Robert Smith died the "Smith & Allnutt" brand name was used until Henry Allnutt went bankrupt in 1876 and John Barcham Green purchased Great Ivy Mill and Lower Tovil Mill. The name Smith & Allnutt was retained and the Greens continued to supply the former Allnutt papers to their customers and others. For a long time I puzzled over the "36" watermark. Then I counted the rule lines and there are 36, so this was to help customers re-order.

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

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Featured Moulds 4 - M209 Frances K Cooper

 


This is an attractive pair of wove stationery moulds, one of only two pairs in the collection made by G Tovey (date unknown). One mould has each sheet divided into 4 square panels with smaller rectangular panels. The second mould is equally divided into rectangular stationery panels. I have not been able to find out who Frances K Cooper was.  

Featured Moulds 3 - M208 Card moulds with painted deckle


This is a very rare and unusual pair of moulds. They are the only three sheet moulds in the collection; ie three completely separate deckle-edged sheets are made on each mould. Considering that the rectangular watermark pattern is to enable each sheet to be torn down into 8 rough edged cards, each 108 x 162 mm (about 4.25 x 6.37 inches), I would have thought that at least as many cards could be arranged on a squarer and easier to use single sheet mould. Secondly the painting of the deckle seems to have little benefit. Finally the cast alloy corner joints also appear to have no advantages and a possible risk of damaging the cover wire. The likelihood seems to be that these design features were intended as an experiment.

© Copyright Simon Barcham Green 2011. Not to be copied or reproduced without written permission

Click on image to enlarge