I don’t own the mould for this but Terry Connors wrote to me about the watermark of which he has an example and asked what I knew of the mould. I told him that I do not know much about the history of the mould. It was apparently made by GSW in 1906 and seems to have been an exhibition piece. In 1986 GSW asked if we could make some paper on it for a papermaking exhibition in (I think) Stockholm. We made about 1,000 sheets but as this was such a small amount we had to use whatever white stock we had at the vat at a time. As a result the watermark is not as clear as it probably would have been in 1906. We kept a few sheets one of which we donated to a Hand Papermaking auction which Terry now has. It was only after we made the paper that I realised the 1986 calendar was exactly the same as that in 1906 so that GSW could have changed just one figure to make it current! The rest of the story is rather sad. GSW were bombed in World War II and virtually all their old moulds, equipment and archives were destroyed in the fire. I am not sure how this one survived. The 1,000 sheets were taken to the exhibition but very few were handed out to those attending the stand because someone stole the entire packet. Presumably they placed some value on them so the paper will be out there somewhere. If anyone knows where this package is, please let me know.
The GSW business was originally started by John Green of Maidstone. This has caused us endless confusion as he was not related to the John Green V who owned Hayle Mill in the early 19th Century. GSW were one of the main makers of moulds and are reasonably well represented in my collection.
Photo courtesy Terry Connors PhD, University of Kentucky
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