Lost by Schoolgirls: A display of 17th century papercuts

Published:: 15 July 2024

Tiny paper cuttings at Sutton House featuring a hen, a fox, and a bird — Paper cuttings at Sutton House | © National Trust images/James Dobson

Rare survivals of decorative paper cutting by schoolgirls nearly 350 years ago have been found under floorboards at Sutton House.

Originally built for one of Henry VIII’s statesmen, Sutton House has been used for a variety of purposes over the years, becoming a school in the 17th century. During this time, it’s thought that paper shapes cut out by schoolgirls slipped through gaps in the floorboards, remaining undiscovered until now.

The paper-cuttings will be on display at Sutton House from Friday 19 July until June 2025.

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Making the discovery

During renovation works in the late 1980s, hundreds of items found under floorboards were carefully stored away. These finds remained uncatalogued for over 30 years until last year, when a team of volunteers began to sort through bags of centuries-old builders’ rubble, discarded textiles, paper and bones and other objects which had been lost over time.

Among the finds volunteers discovered a small number of delicate cut-out paper designs, only a few centimetres in size. Eight of these have been dated to the late seventeenth century when papercutting as a pastime in the UK was in its infancy and are extremely rare survivals.

The discoveries include an intricate folded paper star, hand-coloured cut-outs of a fox, and a female figure bathing, and a hen with added green and pink silk embellishment, along with black and white cut-outs of a bird and a country couple in clothing of the period.

A close up of a 17th century papercutting depicting a hen | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

A 17th century art form

Girls and women in the 17th century were taught a number of crafts including embroidery, needlework and papercutting. They would cut out the tiny designs from books filled with themed designs, using tiny pairs of scissors, knives and even pins. They’d often be coloured in by hand using watercolours and use as decoration on boxes and other items.

Dr Isabella Rosner, an expert in early modern material culture, identified the paper cuttings at Sutton House which are almost identical to only two other known surviving examples, one of which is a decorative box dating to the 1680s held in a collection at Witney Antiques in Oxfordshire. The prints found underneath the Sutton House floorboards are hugely exciting, as they give us glimpses into the rich material world of middle and upper-class schoolgirls 350 years ago.

Paper cutting for decoration was a subject in various household management books for women in the seventeenth century, notably by Hannah Woolley, such as ‘A Guide to Ladies’ (1668) and ‘The Gentlewoman’s Companion’ (1673). She described the ‘cutting of Prints, and adorning Rooms or Cabinets, or Stands with them,’ as skills which ‘I shall be willing to impart to them, who are desirous to learn.’”

A quote by Dr Isabella Rosner Early modern material culture expert

Sutton House

Built in built in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadleir, this Tudor home reveals five centuries worth of history, creating vivid snapshots into the past. The garden, known as the Breaker's Yard, includes playful features which celebrate the garden’s former life as a car scrapyard.

A wooden panelled room in a Tudor house with sunlight streaming through the windows onto a geometric floor.

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