ANTIQUE: T.H. Saunders Banknote

€106,95

A lightweight cotton paper for drawing, calligraphy, printmaking and bookbinding.

10 sheet packs

BANKNOTE PAPER

This paper is mould-made - a mechanised process which duplicates some of the characteristics found in handmade paper but with the benefit of improved speed, and greater sheet to sheet consistency

We call this a banknote paper, because at 76gsm, it is lightweight with some translucency when held up to the light. It is very crisp with an impressive rattle and appears to be surface sized, most likely with gelatine making it receptive to wet media including paints and inks.

As part of our experiments into seeing what the paper will do, we entirely saturated one side with heavy drawing ink - there was no bleeding through to the other side. It also retained its surface with no delamination or damage to the surface - this is a particularly tough paper.

This paper also holds a very fine line making it suitable for calligraphy and ink drawing.

We do not know precisely when this paper was made other than it being between 1959 - 1980s.

SOLD IN PACKS OF 10 SHEETS

Colour: Natural White

Size: 21⅜ x 16½ inches, 540 x 415 mm, Large Post.

Grain Direction: Long

Weight: 76gsm

Surface: Wove, Hot Pressed (very smooth)

Watermarks: TH SAUNDERS (repeated four times across the sheet)

Deckles: To all four edges.

Condition: Perfect

Uses: Paints, inks, writing, calligraphy, drawing, pencil, bookbinding, relief print, screen printing, marbling,

10 sheet packs are sent rolled in a strong postal tube. Sample sheets are sent folded in an envelope.

HISTORY

Made by one of the most important British papermakers, Thomas Harry Saunders (1813 - 1870) who started a career in paper-making while in his twenties, becoming partner in a paper mill in 1840.

T. H. Saunders, was especially known for his light and shade watermarks, created for various exhibitions in the 1800s, for bank notes and postage stamps for customers in Europe, the British Empire and South America.

A light and shade watermark created the 1876 Great Exhibition in Philadelphia, USA.

Saunders built up a papermaking business with six mills, one of them the renovated Phoenix Mill at Dartford in Kent. As well as maanufacturing secure, watermarked paper they also produced bulk products like newsprint for The Times and of course fine paper for the arts.

After Saunders' death in 1870, the paper business continued at various mills along the River Darent. At some point, Wookey Hole Mill purchased the rights to produce TH Saunders paper. Those rights came to St Cuthberts Mill in 1959, with TH Saunders rebranded as Saunders Waterford in the 1980s. T. H. Saunders' name is still a registered trademark for drawing and watercolour paper, now produced as Saunders Waterford paper in Somerset.

Given the importance of Saunders' contribution to British papermaking, there are very few if any records of the day to day running of his papermaking business - it is suspected that the records and archives were destroyed in the 1980s,